Pokemon, Light is Reflected by the Distant White
by GalaxianDragon
Summary: After becoming Champion and capturing the Ultra Beasts, Sun laments that Lillie isn't around anymore. Upset at his cowardice to not admit his feelings, he starts to turn away from everyone around him. The choices that he has made will send Alola's first Champion into a wringer of emotions and bring about an important question; is an Alola without Lillie enough?
1. A Champion's lament

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Otherwise, we would still have the PSS. The cover image for this work was done by dubiousmushroom.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Ten Carat Hill, that was such an odd name for a place in the Alola region. Mostly because carats were a unit of measurement for rare minerals like diamonds.

Lots of rock type pokemon inhabited the area, including Carbink. That was a possible reason as to why the area received the name carat. But the reason for ten was still a mystery.

Most certainly not one that Sun wouldn't be solving today. He jumped backwards in his usual attire with his partner Pokémon by his side.

Both he and his Pokémon had long since been stuck in a battle against a very black and sharp Pokémon, Necrozma. This strange opponent didn't appear like it came from this world at all, giving the impression that it was an Ultra Beast.

"Manny, use flame charge!"

The Incineroar ignited himself and charged towards Necrozma. In response, the black Pokemon nonchalantly floated above the ground and out of the way. Manny skidded across the ground as his attack ended.

A click of his tongue was a clear sign that Sun was annoyed by this opponent's tenacity; it had already taken out his Wishiwashi, Vikavolt, and Mimikyu.

'And he doesn't even care...I think,' Thought the boy. Truthfully, he couldn't tell if the pokemon was capable expressing emotion or not. The colored triangles that would have been its face didn't show any emotion.

The flashing of random colors across the sleek surface did display signs of consciousness, and so did the slow tilt to face downward.

"What the-"

Before Sun could begin to comprehend what was occurring, his opponent absorbed the light around it. The sky around it started to darken into black.

Surprise decorated the young boy's face, he had an idea of what exactly this meant.

"Manny! Use Darkest Lariat!" Yelled the trainer.

His pokemon was caught off guard at first by this quick command, but he understood his trainer's loss of composure. This oncoming attack would be incredible in its capacity for power.

Manny knelt down to the ground before jumping up and spinning, his body was surrounded by dark energy as he ascended.

Necrozma fired its attack, Prismatic Laser, a shower of beams rained down upon the Incineroar. Sun clenched his teeth knowing that another one of his Pokemon could be taken out.

'Sorry, Manny.'

But that didn't happen. Instead of laying waste to Manny, the attack simply phased through him. Everyone was shocked by this unexpected reaction.

However, such a surprising event was also one that was also a ripe opportunity.

Manny slammed into Necrozma with two lariats and knocked the Legendary Pokémon down to the ground, kicking up dust as it landed.

"Way to go!" Sun jumped and high fived his partner. It was a mutually shared feeling of success.

The moment was short lived, however, because the Prism Pokemon arose from the ground; its sleek exterior remained shiny with little dust. The triangles on its face flickered like a computer processing information.

'Ok, so his attack must be a psychic type because it didn't harm Manny,' thought Sun, 'but he was barely hurt by Darkest Lariat...is he a dark type?'

Only the pokemon's black color supported this idea. Sun's Mimikyu attacked with Play Rough but didn't manage to damage it that much. These facts were more confusing than helpful.

"Ok, so you're either a dark type or a psychic type. But you've got an ability that softens the blows for you, right?" Inquired the Alolan Champion.

Silently staring in what appeared to be agitation was confirmation enough.

"Whatever, this battle won't last much longer," proclaimed the trainer. He turned to his partner who felt just as eager to finish the fight.

"Alright, Z-Power!"

Saku got into his stance for the Z-move and raised his arms up high. Manny jumped over in front of him and absorbed the immense power. With a roar, he summoned a wrestling ring that surrounded Necrozma.

A smirk on the Incineroar's face was shared by his trainer. The dark-fire type rushed forward and jumped with a dark flare as his trainer raised his pointed fingers up.

"Malicious Moonsault!"

Vicariously cheering synced with the explosion of power between Manny and Necrozma. Joy and satisfaction spread across Sun's face. But his moment was fleeting as the dust and smoke cleared.

There Manny was, suspended by the Prism Pokémon's black edged hand. Although it looked like it had taken more damage, it wasn't nearly as much as the boy had predicted.

"But how? That was a Z-Move," questioned Sun.

Necrozma probably saw it fit to answer by tossing the Incineroar to the ground. Then it turned its whole body towards a giant rock.

Psychic energy flowed into the rock and broke it into fragments that transformed into gems. The Legendary Pokémon turned its attention to the starter Pokémon, who was only just getting back up.

"No." Sun understood that the attack was Power Gem and would seriously hurt his friend.

Any normal trainer would instantly dodge out of the way for fear of being hit by that attack, but Sun was being recklessness.

He jumped towards Manny and tried to help his Pokémon up. This action was very surprising to the fire-dark type.

"My recklessness got us into this, sorry buddy," apologized the trainer. "But I promise that I won't let you get hurt like this."

An unusually pained expression came from the wrestler, he didn't want to see his friend in pain either. They both shared a look of determination as they faced back towards Necrozma; the black Pokémon launched its attack as a response.

Sun prepared himself, his determination to protect his close friends was unwavering.

'And all of this just because I-'

His thoughts were immediately interrupted by a stream of fire that enveloped the Power Gem attack.

Surprised, both trainer and Pokémon saw the arrival of two newcomers. Anabel rushed onto the scene alongside a quadrupedal fire Pokémon.

"Miss Anabel, what are you doing here?" Asked Sun.

"I was curious about what Looker said, and it looks like he wasn't far off," said Anabel, noting how Necrozma bore a resemblance to an Ultra Beast.

Speaking of whom, the black Legendary Pokémon appeared both intrigued and frustrated (as much as it could without physical expression). The colors and shapes on its supposed face started to blink rapidly again.

Sun caught sight of this action and wondered if this meant that Necrozma was trying to factor the situation.

"Seriously, is he like a computer or something?"

His muttered words failed to go unnoticed by Anabel. She would have responded with more question if not for the light being drained away.

"What is that?"

"I think its his signature move. It's like a meteor shower when it hits," explained the black-haired boy.

Although it was the second time Sun had seen Prismatic Laser being charged, this was the first time he saw exactly how it was working.

Necrozma's giant head really was like a giant prism (go figure), the light was being absorbed into the back of it and Sun already knew that the attack would be fired out of the front.

However, knowing how this was happening wasn't nearly enough. The attack wouldn't hurt Manny, but the boy was aware that Anabel and her Pokémon were the real target.

"Entei, use fire blast." Anabel didn't want to back down from this.

The Legendary Pokémon of fire reared up its fearsome gaze and blasted out fire that formed the kanji symbol for big. In response, Necrozma fired its own attack. Anabel expected that her Pokémon's attack wouldn't completely stop the beams, she wanted to test the waters first.

However, she didn't expect that the psychic attack would completely pass through the fire.

"Look out!"

Sun leapt forward and grabbed Anabel before the attack could hit her. They both crashed as the ground near them was darted by lasers. Entei was merely a paper lion against a storm.

Needless to say, Anabel was shocked by the gap in power; her Entei was at full health, but it was already completely defeated by only one attack.

"Don't worry, we got this," proclaimed Sun as he reached for a nest ball. "Come on out, Nebby!"

From the small pokeball emerged the Legendary Pokémon of the Moone, Lunala. Its wings were spread out wide as it soared above Necrozma. Sun remained calm and ready as his partner flew into the sky.

Nebby's appearance alone changed the entire atmosphere, Necrozma's powerful appearance was now matched by this majestic Pokémon.

"Go even higher!" Commanded Sun, which his partner quickly followed.

"What are you doing?" Asked Anabel.

"I've got a plan; Nebby and I have a great bond," explained the boy.

It was then that Nebby blocked out the sun above the scene. Without any command, it positioned itself in a circle. The third eye appeared on its forehead and the sun's light vanished.

Beams of light danced around Nebby's body before conjuring towards its head.

"Moongeist Beam!"

The beam fired down upon Necrozma, enveloping the black Pokémon entirely. Movement was absent from it as the beam inflicted massive damage.

Now the damage was much more potent to the Prism Pokémon, Nebby's attack ceasing made that easier to see. Agitation was also something that could be seen in that Pokémon's movements.

Quickly, and with no warning, Necrozma flew up towards Nebby; its arms splayed out to crush the Lunaala with Wring Out.

But its attack completely phased through the ghost-psychic type. There was no time to collect its thoughts before the psychic type felt something tap its back.

"Gotcha!" Yelled Saku as the Legendary Pokémon was sucked into the beast ball.

The pokeball fell to the ground and shook three times before a click resounded. Sun ran over and picked up the device with a smile spread across his face as sunlight returned to the scene.

"That was amazing," complimented Anabel, "how did you do that?"

"I saw that attack before. That guy absorbs light from around him before firing it out his face, like a prism."

"And your Pokémon's attack must have drained away any light that it could have used," speculated Anabel. A nod from Sun confirmed this.

Lunala was told in legend that it could absorb the brightest of day to make night fall, and now it was less of a legend. Anabel was left amazed by how quickly Sun made that strategy.

'To use Lunala's move, typing, and ability all at once...no wonder he is the champion.'

However, the boy himself couldn't care. He had only set out the capture this Pokémon for the same reason as the Ultra Beasts.

"Let's heal our Pokémon," proposed the boy. Anabel nodded in agreement with that idea.

A few minutes passed as the trainers restored the health of their Pokémon. Nebby showed its childish side when it bobbed up and down at Manny's restoration; the Incineroar returned the favor by trying to act cool as they normally do.

While this interaction was nice for their trainer, he saw something else interesting. A small pink book was in the area that he and Anabel had landed at.

Curious, Sun walked over to pick it up. "Is this yours, Miss Anabel?"

When the purple-haired woman looked over, her face flared brighter than Entei's Fire Blast. She bolted over and took the bag away from Sun.

"D-did you see what was inside?!"

"No, not really," answered the boy with some surprise. This burst of emotion was quite unusual for her. "Is that something really important to you?"

The red on Anabel's face remained as she placed the book in her back pocket. "You don't need to know."

Such a comment succeeded in annoying Sun, he didn't like it when people made note of his age. Despite his accomplishments of derailing the plans of a cruel mother and becoming Alola's first champion, people were always quick to judge him by his age.

He relented on this because he had bigger things to tend to. But first he would have to give Anabel time to analyze Necrozma.

"Alright. Here you go." He pulled out the beast ball and offered it to Anabel.

Question took over and removed the frantic expression that the agent previously had. This succeeded in placing suspicion on Sun's face as well.

"Are you not satisfied with this Pokémon?" Asked Anabel.

"No. I thought that you needed to analyze all the Ultra Beasts," explained the boy.

"Sun, this isn't an Ultra Beast."

That statement hit him like a stampede of Mudsdale. All that work and effort to find this Pokémon didn't aide at all in his goal. For a few minutes, he thought that he had found what he was looking for.

"N...nani?"

"This Pokémon is much more like Lunala. It obviously comes from another world, but it doesn't bear the aura that other Ultra Beasts have."

Sun was left in a state of purely ironic pain. He was quick and smart enough to create a strategy to incapacitate this Pokémon, but not smart enough to notice its lack of a red aura.

Rage and sorrow were rising up inside of the young champion. However, he needed to do something first to make up. He released Necrozma from the pokeball.

"Sorry about that. I thought that you were something else," apologized Sun. "But you are free to go where you want."

Administering a full restore was effective in showing his genuine apology. Necrozma didn't really respond with any traces of hostility. It returned a silent stare before flying away, perhaps a sign of acceptance.

This must have been the most surprising action that Anabel had seen from Sun all day. It was him who went after all of the Ultra Beasts without any hesitation and accepted all of them as Pokémon that would stay with him.

Now he had quickly given up a much more powerful Pokémon as if it was a piece of candy.

"You just thought it was another Ultra Beast?"

"Yeah," answered Sun under his breath.

Anabel could easily read in between the lines. The champion had something else in mind when he was trying to capture this Pokémon.

"Tell me, why did you go after the Ultra Beasts?"

A sigh escaped the boy before he began to explain. "There is a girl who is related to the Aether Foundation. Her name is Lillie. She is my friend, but she has gone to Kanto because of the Ultra Beasts," started the boy.

"You see, her mom, Lusamine, merged with a Nihilego and has neurotoxins in her body-"

"So you were trying to help out your friend by catching more Ultra Beasts?"

Sun's kindness towards others was something that Anabel was already aware of; it was one of the reasons that she and Looker qualified him for the job.

However, this level of devotion wasn't something that she expected.

"I wanted to find a cure for her mother so that she could come back." Sun turned to Anabel and she saw the pitiful look in his eyes. "I guess I wasn't thinking right."

'I see...he had a crush on her,' thought the agent. Comforting her ally was the appropriate action, but this kind of situation was difficult to deal with.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that." Anabel reached over and hugged him, the only way that she could think of to comfort him.

Few actions were appropriate for this kind of interaction, and Sun could've taken any of them; he just didn't know what to do but stand there and accept it. Anabel broke the hug and looked in in the eyes.

"However, I'm sure that you two will meet again. I just know it."

That promise did succeed in at least putting a smile on the boys face, even if it was a little pitiful.

"Thanks, Miss Anabel."

Their interaction ended with the former Salon Maiden extending her offering to meet at the Battle Tree. Sun accepted the offer, but he insisted that it be done at a later date.

With only Nebby and Mannyy there to see him, the boy kicked the ground in frustration. His anger wasn't directed towards any one person but himself for his rash actions. Looking up to the daylight sky, he realized just how different this was from that day when Lillie left.

"What do I do now?"

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. If there is anything you want to say, leave a guest review.

Yes, this fanfiction will be different from my other works. I just don't want to rewrite the entire Sun and Moon story because it is so long and feels to cinematic for writing. However, I do have plans for this one.


	2. A promise made and a promise broken

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, you'd have a slightly higher chance to catch Mareanie.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Sun sat on the marina, casually tossing rocks towards the shallow waters. Fishing for some Pokémon was an activity that appealed to him initially, but he chose not to entertain that desire. He could not muster enough patience like Lana at the moment.

The moon's reflection on the water reminded him of the day when he and Lillie awakened Nebby's true power. A quick laugh escaped from the boy as he reminisced.

"That was amazing." Seeing the creation of a new Legendary Pokémon alongside somebody he cared for so much made that event so stellar.

Such nostalgic feelings of happiness were short lived, overcome by that same depression at his inability to admit how he felt. He returned to flinging rocks until his supply ran out. Staring at the moon's reflection in the seawater was all he could do when he had no more stones.

That was until he saw a small reflection of blonde in the water that appeared to be behind him.

'Lillie?!' Sun's head quickly swerved around with the hope of seeing his crush.

His hopes were quickly crushed at the sight of her mother. What was left of that was burned by the sight of her neutral expression.

"L-Lusamine?"

A tilt of the woman's head was her way of acknowledging his words. However, some verbal response would have been much more appreciated.

"But I thought that you couldn't move. How did you get here?" Asked Sun.

"Sun," began Lusamine. "I am taking back Lunala."

Before the boy could interject or even comprehend what was going on, the blonde woman showed him the nest ball in her hand. This arose anger and panic in the boy; he jumped up at Lusamine, desperate to stop her.

Somehow he missed entirely and landed on the pavement. It was like she warped out of reality just as the Nihilego did in Ultra Space.

Then Lusamine appeared further away from him without the nest ball. Nebby appeared beside her and faced towards its trainer with a similar expression of neutrality.

"Just stop, Sun," said the Pokémon. This completely froze Sun in surprise.

"N-Nebby? You can talk?" Sun was barely able to understand what was occurring.

Instead of choosing to acknowledge this strange behavior, Nebby simply continued with what it had to say.

"I don't want to be with you anymore. You're nothing like I thought you would be."

Those words broke the boy. Paralysis held him down, and he was unable to do anything as Nebby and Lusamine stared back at him.

Then, without anymore words, Nebby beat its wings and took to the night sky. Sun could only watch as his friend ascended higher and higher away.

"Nebby, please..." He slowly reached his hand up with what energy he could muster. "I can't bare to lose anyone else!"

His pleas couldn't even reach the Lunala. Nebby was so far up that it now looked like it was one with the moon.

Suddenly, the white shine of the moon dimmed. The celestial object browned and gained a crispy structure. It was almost like it was turning into a giant-

"A malasada?"

...

Sun awoke with a startle and a quick scream. Quickly scanning his room, the boy found his horrifying experience to just be a dream; he found also that the time was 2:34 in the morning.

"So it was only a nightmare."

Even though he was convinced about the authenticity of his experience, he still needed to confirm this with someone. There was only one that he could discuss this with.

"I hope Nebby won't mind," noted Sun as he got out of bed and reached for the nest ball.

Sun was careful in his movements out the door because he didn't want to wake either his mother or their Meowth. Once outside, he made his way over to the ledge on Route 1 that oversaw Kala'e Bay.

He tossed the nest ball and released Nebby, who appeared tired. "Sorry for waking you up so late, buddy."

Ironically, the Lunala had been spending a good portion of time sleeping. It had still been adjusting to the new form that didn't really require any sleep.

Nebby looked towards its trainer with tired eyes. Though not patronizing, Sun knew that his Pokemon was questioning why they were there at that moment. To further complicate the situation, the trainer started to feel uncomfortable talking about his dreams and his regrets.

"Uh...I just wanted to make sure that you were ok. After all, that was a tough battle yesterday."

His lie was very easy to see through because Nebby didn't take any damage at all. This was far too apparent to both of them.

"Well, you know...I just..." The boy failed to think of anymore lies and relented with sigh. He owed his Pokémon the truth. "I had a nightmare. And you were in it."

Sun faced away from Nebby with some shame. To be strong, to Sun, meant that he wouldn't need to rely on others emotionally. In truth, he just had a hard time talking about Lillie, even to the Pokémon that she mothered. Said Pokemon floated over to listen some more.

A nudge on Sun's shoulder urged him to continue with his explanation.

"It's hard to talk about. I just miss Lillie so much, and I'm afraid of losing anyone else, especially you."

His words were hung with pain and regret. Very few people around him could understand this pain. Perhaps the only person who truly did understand his pain was only one he was talking to.

"I know that you aren't-"

Sun was abruptly cut off as he felt thing fingers wrap around his waist. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet as he was lifted up by Nebby.

The face of the Moone Pokemon came into the view and Sun could clearly see the sympathy in his Pokemon's eyes. Sounds didn't come from Nebby, but it was still silently promising something to its trainer.

And he knew exactly what was being promised.

"Right...I'm sorry, Nebby," said Sun. He closed his eyes and leaned in to hold Nebby's face. "I know with my heart that you don't ever want to leave."

...

Although the day was particularly cloudy, Sun felt better than he did last night. This better attitude got his mother had sent him on a couple of errands to the megamart nearby.

The Champion of Alola strolled towards the city alongside his Mimikyu, Mimi.

"Is it weird that I am a Champion but I still listen to my mom?" Asked Sun to his Pokémon..

She tilted her decoy head to the side as a sign of curiosity. Both of them knew full well that her real head was lower, but the ghost-fairy type still retained her habit of pretending to be a Pikachu.

"Come on, Mimi, you don't have an answer for this?" Urged the trainer.

His Pokemon responded by continuing ahead without giving an auditory answer.

Sighing, Sun followed after her. "I'm not really sure either."

The first stop on Sun's list was the nearby clothing store. He had been meaning to change his attire for some time. However, he was convinced that he just couldn't make time before between the Island Challenge and Team Skull.

Truthfully, it was because he didn't have the patience to stay in a clothing store and try on different clothes one after another.

"Now what would look good on me?" Asked the Champion to himself.

A natural artistic sense was lacking in the boy. This led him to struggle with picking out any new clothes for himself. Luckily, his Pokémon somehow possessed an artistic sense for attire.

Mimi searched through the clothes with her black arms and picked out a collegiate tank top and orange capris pants.

"I don't think that Pikachu are able to pick out clothes that well," taunted the boy.

His Pokemon was shocked for a few seconds, worried that her usual demeanor and disguise were instantly broken.

"Just kidding!" The Mimikyu was a little upset at her trainer's sense of humor. "Sorry about that. I'll go ahead and try these on."

A few minutes passed for Sun to change into these new clothes. Mimi waited patiently outside for her trainer to finish; nobody but Sun really went through the trouble to catch her, so people weren't going to try now.

Sun emerged from the changing room with a more cheerful appearance, even if his expression didn't match it.

"Not sure if these really fit to me. What do you think, Mimi?" Asked the boy.

The stars in his Pokémon's real eyes were enough to convince him that she thought this worked. He didn't really want to go through the process of changing clothes again anyway.

"Ok then. These clothes it is," Sun wandered over to the counter to pay for them.

Mimi slowly followed after him before something outside the window caught her attention. There was a slimy, green creature pasted to the window. Its blank stare and monotonous movement gave it a very peculiar presence.

Struck by curiosity, Mimi was quick to grab her trainer's leg with her black arms so he could see it.

"What's wrong?" The Mimikyu pointed towards the window. "Outside?"

Trusting his partner, Sun glanced outside to see if there was anything worth this behavior. He found no abnormalities at all.

"I don't see anything. Are you sure that there was something there?" His Pokémon couldn't come up with the appropriate response because of the lack of evidence.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure it was just your imagination," reassured the trainer.

Insisting upon the existence of this unknown creature was pointless since there was no longer any evidence of its existence; Mimi chose to follow her trainer through the checkout line.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the mystery creature settled atop the store's roof. It lightly moved its head up and down before becoming invisible.

Mimi chose to return to her ball because she was too lazy to continue walking, and Sun rushed through the rest of his errands. None of them interested him because they were primarily for his mother. Now finished with picking up the necessary items, he decided to enjoy a walk around the city.

Boredom started to take over because there was no trainer or Pokémon that could match him and his team.

"I don't really feel like going back home right now. What should I do?" Asked the boy to himself.

Autonomously, Rotom emerged from the pocket on Sun's back pack. "How about we take some picturezzzz of Pokémon?"

Taking pictures of random Pokémon was a small task that was issued to Sun around the time he started the Island Challenge. He had taken a few pictures of common Alolan Pokémon, but Professor Kukui always said that he should be on the lookout for rarer Pokémon.

"I guess it can't be that bad," said Sun, showing his agreement to Rotom's suggestion.

"Alright! Pokefinder mode, activate!" The Pokémon/machine flipped over in front of its partner and activated the camera.

Without much thought, Sun took a picture of the first Pokémon that he could see, an Alolan Meowth resting on a ledge. He instantly submitted in online, but he received less than favorable reviews for the picture.

"Come on! That's pretty good!" Argued the boy to Rotom's screen.

"Don't get angry at me!" Retorted the machine Pokémon.

A little nervousness showed up on the black-haired boy's face. "Right, sorry about that."

Trying to think of something else to capture on film, Sun looked around the city. His efforts didn't show anything too picturesque. However, he did notice that Hau was nearby sitting down on a bench.

"Hey, it's Hau!" Exclaimed the boy; seeing his friend always got him in an upbeat mood. He gathered up his items and went to meet up with his friend.

"Wait, what about taking picturezzz?"

"Don't worry, we can do that anytime," answered the trainer, much to his partner's agitation. The Pokémon/machine relented and choose to return to the backpack.

Hau had two kinds of activities that were his favorite in any situation, one involved Pokémon and the other involved malasadas. At the moment, he was engaging in the latter of the two.

"Hey, Hau!" He turned over to see Sun coming over. It was a welcome surprise.

"Hey, Sun! It's been a little while, hasn't it?" Inquired Hau.

Nodding, Sun acknowledged that he had been a little too busy trying to round up the Ultra Beasts. The presence of Ultra Beasts alone was something that the International Police were trying to conceal. This caused the Champion to be secretive about his whereabouts.

Hau's friendship with Sun and his presence during the arrival of the beasts meant that he wasn't part of the general public.

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately trying to find the Ultra Beasts," explained the boy sheepishly.

"What?! There are still some of those in Alola?!" Spouted Hau quickly.

Surprise covered by concern was a very uncommon reaction for the usually upbeat child. His friend tried quickly to calm him down.

Sun carefully explained what had happened and why the Ultra Beasts were no longer a threat. The trusting nature of Hau made this much easier than it would've been with a normal person, and he settled down before going to one of his usual habits.

"You want a malasada?" Offered the green-haired boy.

Having one of those sugary treats was always one of the best ways to enjoy company, especially for Sun. However, the memory of the previous nightmare was still fresh in the Champion's mind.

By no means was he feeling sick; the malasada was just a little more than unpleasant at the moment.

"I think I'll pass. Not really feeling like I'm in a malasada-mood," explained Sun sheepishly.

Speaking in such a manner stirred up some curiosity in Hau; he made his interest obvious with a perked eyebrow. Implicitly, Sun felt nervous about his friend's expression.

"Is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself."

"What? I'm totally like myself." Sun forced an grin on his face before he realized his clothing. "Are you talking about what I'm wearing?"

Hau's shaking head showed denial but held his concerned expression. He couldn't see it before, but there was something very different about his friend.

"No, it's not that. You just left for a while and now...you just have a different vibe around you," answered Hau.

Explanation for this change was difficult to achieve; the Champion of Alola had an unnerving attitude around him. It succeeded in dragging down the mood of the scene somewhat.

"It's like when you became Champion and Lillie left you-"

Hau didn't finish his sentence before his rival sprang up from the bench like a Salandit had set his butt on fire. A direct line of sight between both of them revealed something very concerning.

The eyes of Sun were mixed between a struggle to maintain happiness and a fight to hold back anger and sorrow.

For Hau, such a stare was very concerning and scary to see.

Words were replaced by action as Sun grabbed all of his things and bolted from the scene. Getting up from the bench to stop his friend was Hau's initial reaction, but said friend was far too fast.

"Sun!"

"Sorry, Hau, but I need to get these back home!"

Before the young trainer knew it, the black-haired boy had disappeared from the scene. He could only look on with concerned eyes, knowing how futile of an effort this was.

"Sun..."

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. If you want, please leave a review or favorite/follow this story. Yeah, I removed the whole side quest of the main character pursuing pieces of Zygarde from the story, but there is a good reason for that.

However, you will have to wait till the next chapter before I actually start explaining it.


	3. A friend cares

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. If I did, I would have included Wally in the main story of Sun and Moon at some point.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

'This is just too much.'

Sun's emotions were tearing at him after his interaction with Hau. He had been true about returning the items back to his house, but then he left the premise immediately afterwards.

All that he was aiming for at the moment was to get away from certain people that could mention Lillie or places that reminded Sun a lot of her.

Akala island was filled with locations that met that criteria. Sun soon realized this and had flown by the Charizard flying service to get to Heahea city.

However, his stay wouldn't last nearly as long as he planned. There was a certain person that he could see in front of Professor Burnet's lab.

'Is that...Professor Kukui?'

The young eyes of Sun did not deceive him because it was indeed the professor. He must have been discussing some vital information about the Ultra Beasts' power with his wife.

"Maybe I should show him-"

Sun stopped moving when he realized that Kukui would be one of the most likely to mention Lillie. Fear embodied as anger and sorrow were already creeping up on him.

His avoidance to pain immediately kicked in when the professor spotted him. As friends instinctively do, Kukui waved over to Sun. The boy knew that Kukui only meant to talk in a friendly manner, but all he could perceive was pain.

'I...I can't...'

Very little thought was expended before Sun quickly rushed into Diglett's Tunnel. His action appeared very sudden from Kukui's point of view, and the professor was left confused.

"Guess he didn't see me," guessed the tan man.

Diglett's Tunnel was difficult for Sun to navigate the first time. Now he was much more experienced and able to handle the large population of Digletts and Dugtrios.

This advantage played right into his action to get away from Kukui.

"I'll definitely have to make it up to my Pokémon for that," said the boy. Guilt hung over him for getting his Pokémon to help him out of a situation so selfishly, even if their involvement was so little.

However, even more guilt hung over him as he realized that he couldn't face Kukui, who was one of the nicest guys that he had ever met.

When and how he would be able to make up for this action were illusive to Sun at the moment.

What wasn't a question was the aching sense of hunger in his stomach.

'Hau had the right idea about those malasadas,' thought Sun.

Conveniently, the aroma of freshly grilled vegetables wafted through the air and into Sun's face. He was always open to eating some good old stir fry; the scent naturally lured him to Konikoni City.

"Oh right, I forgot that there is a restaurant here," said Sun.

There wasn't much concern about eating at a restaurant for either Sun or his mother. They both had a more lenient position on eating habits, and he had a habit to eat more vegetables than most boys his age.

"Maybe I could treat my entire team. I bet their all hungry right now," speculated the black-haired boy.

Chances had virtually nothing to do with his team's hunger; it was a little past lunch time. The least that their trainer could do was buy them whatever they wanted.

Eager to show himself as a responsible trainer, Sun obliged with his Pokemons' desires regardless of the dent it would put in his wallet.

"Whatever. I'll just go Pyukumuku chucking later," decided Sun. That job was always an easy way to earn money for some reason.

Sun was able to get the employment of the restaurant to bring the food outside since he couldn't fit all of his Pokemon in such a cramped restaurant.

Of course, this cost extra. Sun didn't care about that; the happiness of his Pokemon mattered more to him. A grateful grin spread on his face as he watched the enjoy the food.

'Good to know that I can do something right.'

A momentary startle overcame the trainer; that thought wasn't to be expected. It seemed that emotional pain would take root in his mind, with or without his friend's being present.

Frustration started to take root in him again. Sun managed to keep his composure, but couldn't suppress himself leaning backwards.

However, it was his backwards movement that reminded him of something important.

"Right, I forgot that this was in here," said the boy as he took off his backpack and reached in.

In his hands was a doll shaped like a Clefairy, a pokedoll. The very item that Lillie gave to him before she left. Looking at the item brought nostalgia and pain.

"Why couldn't I say anything? Why was I so…so scared?" He dipped his head into the stuffed plush and was able to smell it.

It smelled just like Lillie did.

Sun knew about this from the time that they spent on Exegutor Island. At that time, she smelled just like vanilla leaves.

That one moment, what he wouldn't give to-

"And here's your order!"

A voice from behind stunned the Alolan Champion and forced him to turn around for composure's sake.

Much to his surprise, this wasn't the same girl who brought him the previous dishes. It was Mallow who was holding his stir fried vegetables.

She was equally surprised at the fact that Sun was the customer.

"Sun! It's you!" Exclaimed the girl. "I didn't recognize you with those clothes."

Mallow was always a girl of eccentric nature and upbeat attitudes; she always loved it when her friends were around.

Her nature was something that Sun had long since become accustomed to.

"Right, I forgot that you live around here," said Sun with a hint of despondency.

"Well, that's not much of a greeting, isn't it?" Asked the Trial Captain very playfully.

"Yeah…I guess," answered the boy, still not paying much surprise.

Talking to this girl was easier for Sun than being with Kukui or Hau at the moment. There was very little association between her and Lillie in his mind; he didn't anticipate that Mallow would talk about Lillie.

Yet the boy still felt uncomfortable to be around Mallow.

"Alright! Well, here's your meal!" Said Mallow cheerfully; she seemed to like her job at the restaurant.

Sun didn't really give a verbal response for the meal, he just silently pulled out the money for it and put away the pokedoll. People seeing it and/or asking questions about it would be annoying to him, even if it was a battle item.

'He could at least acknowledge me,' thought Mallow. She pouted at the silent and rude behavior of her friend.

A small yet devious thought popped up in the girl's head. Before handing the platter to Sun, she pulled out a small syringe and put an extra ingredient in it.

"Thanks…," said Sun.

"You know, you don't look like yourself lately," pointed out Mallow.

Furrowing his eyebrows was an appropriate response to Sun. Even though it was only the second time that he had heard that, he was beginning to hate it.

"Don't know what you're talking about, I'm fine," insisted the boy with a tinge of irritation.

"I think I know what will cheer you up; let's have a Pokémon battle!" Insisted the Trial Captain.

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood right now," said Sun quickly.

He actually would have been fine with a Pokémon battle, but he just didn't want to interact with Mallow at the moment. Facing away from her was an even greater effort towards that.

The cheerful and joyous expression that was spread across Mallow's face didn't fade at all; in fact, she seemed even happier after Sun said that.

Figuring that he had gotten his point across, the boy took a bite into the stir fry. The savory, smoky flavor practically exploded in his mouth. But that wasn't the only flavor he could taste. His tongue started to heat up quickly and before he knew it, Sun's mouth was practically on fire.

"Hot!" Yelled the boy as he stuck his tongue out.

"Yep."

Sun's head quickly swerved to see Mallow's devious green as she held a tiny red syringe. He remembered this situation all too well with his trial. The only difference was that he didn't eat the dish she made back then.

Now he had a good idea as to why.

"Mallow!"

"Yes? Do you want some water?" She pulled out a bottle of water (magic satchel, everyone) and dangled it around.

"This isn't funny!" Sun lunged forward in an attempt to get the water, but his green-haired friend was much faster.

The burning sensation was close to liquefying the poor boy's tongue. Or at least that's what it felt like.

"Come on, Mallow, this is torture!" Begged the Alolan Champion.

"Alright, but you need to promise me something first." Her bribe was ominously accompanied by that cheerful tone.

"Anything!"

"Promise me that you'll battle me after I finish my shift."

"Yes, I promise!"

Satisfied with her plan, Mallow handed a bottle of water to Sun. He downed it all in less than ten seconds without choking.

"Ok, I get off in thirty minutes. Don't go anywhere," stated the green-haired girl.

She didn't offer Sun the opportunity to answer because she went back into the restaurant.

With Mallow now gone, Sun realized the trap that he had just walked in. There were the options to get water from somewhere else or get his Pokemon to help him out.

Simply leaving and not living up to his promise was a present option for him.

"Oh well, a promise is a promise," concluded a boy.

So he waited for roughly thirty one minutes before Mallow emerged from the restaurant with a plate wrapped in tin foil.

"Hey! Thanks for waiting!" Her enthusiasm was brimming again.

"I don't want to go back on my promise," said Sun, still retaining his neutral expression from earlier.

Mallow giggled before handing Sun the plate. The Alolan Champion accepted the gift without question and opened it. To his surprise, it was stir fried vegetables; they were still warm.

A curious glance was offered to the green-haired girl.

"I do owe you for that prank earlier," admitted the chef sheepishly. "I promise that this one isn't spicy."

Mallows finger wiggling against her cheek was a promising sign that she was truthful. However, Sun was a little wary after the first attempt. He slowly pulled out an asparagus and took a bite.

Then that smoky flavor hit his tongue. Neutrality melted away from his face and was replaced by a very content smile.

Few things in the region of Alola could bring its Champion to his knees and stir fried asparagus was one of them.

"So tasty," muttered the boy.

"Alright, you can eat that on the way to our battle!" Proclaimed Mallow as she walked past him. Her statement confused Sun.

"Wait, I thought that we were battling here," said the boy with a mouth full of asparagus.

Mallow turned around with that same brimming grin. "No, we need to battle in the Lush Jungle. It's a lot more private there."

Objecting to that idea wasn't in Sun's interest; his earlier desires for peace by avoiding some of his friends was still partially intact. So he followed Mallow, on foot, to the Lush Jungle.

Initially, he worried about running into Kukui on the way, but the professor was no longer in Heahea City. This eased the boy as he followed Mallow.

Riding atop a Tauros to save time was an opportunity that they should have taken, but Mallow insisted otherwise.

"But why not?" Asked Sun.

"Because you'll get a stomach cramp while trying to eat!" Answered Mallow with a wave of her finger.

When the black-haired boy heard that, he imagined himself swimming or riding atop a Tauros. Pokémon battling didn't appear to be physically draining to him at all.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, don't you feel a little tired after a Pokémon?" Her question did raise some sense in Sun. Riding atop a Pokémon as vigorous as a Tauros could be a workout in of itself.

Walking towards the jungle took three hours, which was a little more than Sun was hoping it would. He chose to save any complaints for after the battle, though.

"Alright, let's make this a two-on-two," suggested Sun.

"Fine with me, I chose Shiinotic!"

Mallow quickly picked out a pokeball and sent out the walking fungi with an ominous grin on its face, Shiinotic.

Wanting to make this match more fun rather than a complete curb-stomp, Sun picked a Pokémon that held no advantage over Shiinotic.

'I guess that Maggie would be a good pick. She doesn't have any type advantages,' thought the Champion.

So he picked out the dusk ball that held his witch-like Pokémon, Mismagius.

"Shiinotic, use astonish!" Said Mallow quickly. Her grass-fairy type quickly screamed and created an ominous that startled Maggie.

Sun was also startled by this quick move; he had no idea that a Shiinotic could use a ghost type move. Responding with another was the quickest way that he could think of.

"Shadow ball!" Maggie conjured up spectral energy around her cloth-like arms and launched it towards Shiinotic.

Defensively, the fungal Pokémon pointed its cap towards the attack. The strategy was only successful in that Shiinotic wasn't pushed too far back. Seeing this caught Sun's attention.

'That looked like something Mallow would've told it to do.' He glanced over to the green-haired girl. A very happy grin was still plastered onto her face.

'She must be really attached to her Pokémon.'

"Shiinotic, use moonblast!" Commanded the trial captain. Her partner obliged by creating a pink energy sphere in its thin arms.

The attack flew quickly and impacted against Maggie's frail body. The weak defenses of a Mismagius were starting to show as Sun's was beginning to look dizzy.

However, this Pokémon was with the Champion through almost everything.

"Maggie, use thunder wave!" The magical Pokémon raised her arms and charged some electricity through the thin appendages.

Thunder wave quickly discharged towards Shiinotic, but didn't damage the fungal Pokémon. Instead, the grass-fairy type was now struggling to move properly due to its paralyzed status.

"Now use hex!"

"Shiinotic, counter with spore!"

Both trainers spoke their commands at the some time. However, only Maggie was capable of attacking because Shiinotic couldn't move.

Maggie slammed her pointed hat head into Shiinotic's head and defeated the fungal fairy. Sun breathed a sigh of relief as he fully remembered that Maggie was always restricted by her poor defenses and slow speed.

Although bad defense and speed held her back, Maggie always pulled through for her trainer when he needed her to the most.

"Thanks, Maggie. Get some rest," said Sun as he retrieved his Pokémon.

"I always wondered how you were able to get through the trial so easily," stated Mallow as she returned Shiinotic to its pokeball and pulled out another one.

With the few seconds that were presented to him, Sun tried to think of whatever Pokémon that the Trial Captain would send out next.

The first possible choice was the Lurantis that was the Totem Pokémon for this area. Mallow had stated that she personally trained that Pokémon, so it would make sense that she could use it in battle.

'But she could use any grass type Pokémon, does that mean that she could use a Decidueye?' Pondered the black-haired boy.

His question was quickly answered as Mallow tossed out her next Pokémon. This one had a white body that was adorned by pink sleeves and stockings; the green, fruity hair that topped the Pokemon's body was graced by a small crown atop it. This was the fruit Pokémon, Tsareena.

Silently paying attention to his opponent's Pokémon, Sun could tell that this one was not to be underestimated.

'Those legs probably let it run around really fast. We've gotta be careful,' thought the boy.

His immediate reaction would force him to pull out Manny for his fire typing, but something in his heart held him back from doing so. Part of him still wanted a much better match than this.

'Alright, if that's the case, Charlie should be able to handle this.' He reached for his next Pokémon and sent it out.

From the pokeball emerged the electrically charged, flying stag beetle, Vikavolt.

Almost by instinct, Charlie hovered further away from the ground. Being cautious about battles was always one of the key points of his personality.

"Tsareena, use stomp!"

Sun's gray eyes widened at what he was witnessed. The pink legs of Tsareena flexed and launched the fruit Pokémon high above Charlie.

Neither trainer nor Pokémon could react quick enough to the massive force that pressed down on the Vikavolt.

"Those legs...so powerful..," said Sun in shock, having never seen this kind of Pokémon before.

He couldn't properly think of a battle strategy to deal with Tsareena. It was obviously faster than Charlie was, so attacking first was not an option.

'If that's the case, then we'll have to wait.' Sun's eyes met with his Pokémon's; Charlie understood what he needed to do.

"Tsareena, use stomp again!" This time, the regal looking Pokémon didn't have to jump up and simply ran over to Charlie.

With a horizontal jump and the left leg extended, it looked ready to deal a finishing blow to the Vikavolt.

"Now, Charlie!"

In what little time he was given, the electric beetle rolled himself along the ground, causing Tsareena's attack to barely miss.

"Bug buzz!"

Charlie's wings popped up and produced a loud, echoing buzz. Tsareena took a serious amount of damage from the attack due to its typing and Vikavolts being adept at long range attacks.

Now the tables had turned and Mallow was shocked.

"I honestly didn't expect you to pull off something like that. Guess your the champ for a reason," complemented the Trial Captain.

"Thanks, but this fight isn't over yet." Sun didn't really like flattery in the middle of a battle.

Grins of happiness and vigor appeared on their faces; this match was genuinely fun. However, both trainers knew that the other was well capable of ending this.

Buzzing from Charlie's wings returned to the default pace, and he returned to the air. He and Tsareena engaged in a small glaring contest, awaiting a command from either side.

"High jump kick!" Malllow was the first to break the ice.

Tsareena flexed its legs again and launched upwards. Its aim was directly towards Charlie with the right leg pointed like a martial arts master.

Such an attack would be devastating if it hit, and Sun knew it. There was only one attack that he could quickly think to use.

"Air slash!"

Charlie swung his hard body around and generated a sharp air current that launched into Tsareena.

Although he had impeded it, Charlie still took the full force of the attack and was sent into nearby trees. Tsareena fell to the ground after taking another super effective attack.

Sun and Mallow held their expressions of focus to see which Pokémon would arise first. It was so tense that they could taste the spice of the situation.

But then a rustling could be heard in the bushes and Charlie floated down. He could barely float above the ground, but he was still active.

Tsareena, however, was down for the count, which was clearly indicated by the swirls in its eyes.

"Wow! That was a great match!" Said Mallow cheerfully despite the fact that she lost.

"Thanks, you're Pokémon put up a tougher fight than I thought they would," complimented Sun in return.

However, it was in that moment that Sun fully realized how big of an advantage he really held over her. Manny was without a doubt an adept fighter, and Nebby had yet to be defeated by anyone other than Sun and his team.

This knowledge must have been present to Mallow as well.

"Hey, Mallow," said Sun while she was retrieving Tsareena. "Why did you decide to battle with me?"

The girl's face showed surprise at first, but she calmed and answered normally.

"Well, you see, I just didn't like seeing you like that." She looked away, crossed her hands behind her back and kicked a leg up.

"All depressed and hateful. I like you a lot more when you are smiling and having fun. Just like when you're with Pokémon."

Sun couldn't deny any of that, even though he still wanted to. Not having Lillie did weigh a lot on his mind and gave him traits that Mallow pointed out.

With her goal and point now clear, the green-haired girl walked closer to her friend.

"So, just try to be a little more happy. You've got a lot to be happy about." She extended her hand out. "Promise?"

Initially, Sun felt reluctant about agreeing to that because of insecurity. He had no idea if he could live up to that promise or not. Yet, in spite of all of that, Mallow's trusting, open smile gave him confidence.

"Alright...thanks." He placed his hand in hers and they shook.

After that, Mallow decided that she would return to the restaurant to help her family, leaving Sun alone.

Now with free time, Sun wanted to figure out a way to meet with Kukui or Hau to explain his odd behavior. Before he could do that, however, he would need some time to mentally prepare himself.

First he would have to leave the Lush Jungle to get a good glimpse of the big blues of the sea and the sky.

Sun stared out at that wide ocean, so vast and pretty. He wondered for a moment about what it must look like from other regions.

"I wonder if Lillie sees it the same," questioned the boy out loud.

"Um, excuse me."

A voice from behind spurred the boy in turning around to see a girl with long blond hair.

For a split second, he thought that this girl was Lillie. His hopes were raised higher than Mount Hokulani.

However, this all came crashing down when he saw this girl's gray eyes and taller figure. It was all to apparent that she wasn't his crush. He still chose to help her since that was what she was looking for.

"Yeah?"

"You look like a local, can you tell me if you've seen something around here?" Asked the blond girl.

Confusing Sun was what the girl succeeded in at first until he realized his outfit. Bright blue and orange did mislead people to think that he was more vibrant than he really was.

After helping this girl, getting back to his old clothes was a must on his agenda.

"Sure, what are you looking for?"

"There is supposed to be a creature around here that looks green and squishy. Its kind of shaped like a Dunsparce."

Hearing the name Dunsparce stirred confusion in Sun. There was no doubt in his mind that that was a Pokémon, but it was one that he had never seen or even heard of.

"Sorry, I haven't seen anything like that," stated the black-haired boy in apology.

"Geez, and I thought that I was so close," said the girl with a tinge of disappointment. "Thanks anyway."

The blond girl departed from the scene, leaving the Alolan Champion with some confusing thoughts and emotions.

Mental thoughts were preoccupied in trying to figure out just what exactly she was looking for and if it was a native Pokémon of Alola. His emotions, however, were being weighed down by that slight resemblance to Lillie.

Denying it was simply pointless; it hurt so much to almost get that chance again, only for it to mean nothing from the first place.

'No! I promised Mallow that I would stay positive,' thought the boy as he slapped his face lightly.

Erratic actions ceased when Rotom flew out of his backpack in front of Sun.

"Gladion wants to talk to you."

Sun's face showed the most amount of surprise that he had all day.

"Nani? Gladion?"

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. Sorry it took a little longer than the previous one did. I do plan to continue with this fanfiction, but it is going to be a little hard for the coming weeks. Regardless, keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter.


	4. A series of obligations

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Otherwise...the Sun and Moon anime...

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Lillie always appeared as the paragon of grace. Her blonde hair flowed gloriously down from her head like a golden waterfall. Her green eyes were like incandescent pools of life.

And to Sun, Gladion was the complete opposite of that.

'Why him?'

While Lillie was always kind and careful about her actions, her brother was blunt and uncaring about most things. His sense of pride, which he wielded quite well, made it difficult for anyone to form a "friendly" relationship with him. These traits led Sun to have some level of distaste for the blonde boy.

Though, in spite of all that, Sun still tolerated being around Gladion. Several events had brought them to work together and develop some level of trust.

'He does care about his family and Pokemon. I can't really turn him down after all his help either,' contemplated Sun.

The good traits of Gladion's personality outweighed his bad ones. If it wasn't for Lillie's brother, Sun wouldn't have been able to save her on several occasions.

Sun caved in and pressed the button, accepting the call.

His irritation started to return because there wasn't an image of Gladion on Rotom's screen. Only a white background with the phrase, "sound only" in black text popped up.

'Is he trying to act like an anime villlan?' Thought Sun.

"Is that you, Sun?" Asked a voice from Rotom. Gladion's monotone voice made it obvious that it was him.

"Yeah, it's me, Gladion. What's up?" Answered the protagonist. He was trying to maintain a calm tone and not tip his caller of his opinion.

"I have a task that I need you to undertake," started the blonde boy. "Please come to the Aether Paradise immediately."

Another aspect that Sun hated about Gladion was brought up again; the latter always expected the former to follow after everything that he said. A very big aspect of his blunt personality that Sun disliked.

But the Champion's personality was standing firm in this trying interaction.

"Why can't you tell me here?" Questioned the black-haired boy. "Nobody is here to hear you."

His remark and question were not out of spite, Sun was purely curious. Why would he need to go to Aether Paradise when he could converse with his frenemy right now.

However, such innocence or simplicity didn't have any place in Gladion's plan.

"I can't be too cautious about this. Come to Aether Paradise," insisted the edgy boy. Composure was starting to slip in his voice, and Sun could hear it.

Irritation was burning brighter in Sun, evident by his knitted eyebrows towards that last demand. Cutting the call and choosing not to arrive was a very viable option for him again.

However, there were two reasons that prevented him from doing this.

It was entirely possible that the Aether Foundation had located more Ultra Beasts in Alola or another region nearby. Just the stray thought of that reignited Sun's hopes of finding a way to cure Lusamine and get Lillie to return quicker.

The second reason that the boy didn't leave was because of his promise to Mallow. Hypocrisy didn't suit him, so he chose to help.

"Alright, I'll get there soon." Sun's irritation relaxed to neutrality.

"Don't take too long." Gladion's voice remained as uncaring and demanding as ever, but Sun made an effort to retain his anger.

Rotom's face returned to normal, and it could clearly see the knitted eyebrows of its partner.

"Sounds like that guy's hard to work with," noted the machine/Pokémon.

"Yeah." Sun sighed and looked up to the sky. "It's like he always is trying to act cool. Anyway, thanks, Rotom."

Saluting in a humorous manner, Rotom returned to the pocket in Sun's backpack. A tinge of guilt hung over the trainer for a bit; he was well aware that Rotom wanted to take some pictures, and they hadn't been doing too much of that lately.

'I'll definitely make that up to him soon.'

Two options were available to Sun for him to get to Aether Paradise: fly on a Charizard, or take the ferry to get there.

Riding across the ocean was more attractive to the agenda of the Champion. His outfit would also need to be changed; wardrobe changes were best done in stores, so heading back to the city was ideal.

'I cannot face Gladion like this,' thought Sun as he pulled on the edges of his shirt. He quickly made his way back to Heahea City.

After a much needed change of attire for the boy, he made his way over to the marina to hop aboard a boat for Aether Paradise. A boat would be scheduled to head there thirty minutes from then.

Although this was compatible with what Sun wanted to do, he knew all to well that Gladion would probably make a fuss about it.

"I don't want to hear him complaining to me about that," said the trainer before exiting the building.

He prepared to summon the Charizard for a quick flight, but it appeared that fate had other plans to delay that action.

"Sun?"

Turning towards the source of the sound, the Champion could clearly see the blank stare of Lana, the Trial Captain of water. He awkwardly returned that stare.

"Oh, hi, Lana. What are you doing here?" Asked the black-haired boy.

With a tilt and turn of her head, Lana stared out towards the ocean. "I'm going to Poni Island."

An abundance of life existed on Poni Island with many different and powerful Pokemon to be found. However, Sun primarily remembered it for it's vast canyon area.

A fisher and water type expert like Lana didn't fit with such an environment like that.

"Why are you going to Poni Island?"

"There is a rare water type Pokémon that can be found there." She turned back to face Sun. "I'm going to catch it and prove myself to Papa and Olivia."

Lana always had a somewhat placated personality; Sun knew that much from the time that he spent with her. He could also easily interpret her fiery determination, even if her eyes failed to show any of it. However, he did have one question on his mind about this.

"Olivia? Why do you need to prove anything to her?" A water type expert wouldn't usually have to do much to prove themselves against a rock type expert.

"Because she already caught one before me."

With that swiftly executed answer, Sun fell on his butt. A Pokémon that was a rock-water type sounded completely ludicrous to the boy. How it would even properly survive was an enigma to him.

"Lana, I don't think that there is a water-rock type Pokémon around Poni Island," suggested the boy as he got back up.

As a rare sign of irritation, the bluenette knitted her eyebrows and leaned forward. Such an action was unexpected to Sun because he had never seen her upset before.

"Yes there is. Here, I'll show you." Lana's tone remained unchanged despite her change of attitude.

Reaching into her fishing pouch, she pulled out a small hand-drawn picture of a brown, fish like Pokémon. This wasn't the first time that he had seen it either; Olivia had one when they battled on Mount Lanakila.

Recognition towards the picture took a few moments longer than it should have because the picture was drawn with crayon, and the Pokémon had a smiley face on it.

"Did...did you draw that?"

"My sisters did."

"Did they tell you about the Pokémon?"

"No, Olivia did."

The speed in which the little girl responded made it hard for Sun to argue about this any further. Ironically, the more emotionally silent one was the more determined.

"Arguing with you about this was a bad idea," noted the boy as he relented from his previous position.

"Of course it is. I am an expert with water Pokemon and you've never caught one." Lana's blank face still failed to portray what she was really feeling.

To Sun, it felt like she was insulting him.

"That's not true! I've caught several water Pokemon!" Retorted the boy quickly.

"Then prove it."

Brashly, the Alolan Champion whipped out a net ball and released the water Pokemon inside. What popped out was the little, blue and white fish Pokemon.

"A Wishiwashi," stated Lana blankly. Unlike what normally happens, the Wishiwashi remained in its individual form instead of the school form.

"I caught him after you gave me the waterium z. Took a little while to find him, too." Sun wasn't one to show off too often, but he felt it necessary for this instance.

Like Lana, his face didn't visually express his pride.

Despite that, the Trial Captain still caught onto this and faced towards him. "I didn't mean that as a compliment."

Her swift and heavy words hit the boy like a giant frying pan to the face. Irritation towards his friend was starting to become unbearable for Sun. Something about her attitude was different than before.

During the trial, Lana was a lot more fun to be around. She was still very straight forward and docile, but very little of her remarks were aimed to insult Sun.

That last statement would probably make him lose his temper. However, his promise to Mallow still held through.

"Well, then what would you say is a rare water type Pokémon?" Inquired the black-haired boy.

A few blinks from Lana's eyes showed that she was contemplating how to answer that. Without saying anything, the blue-haired girl pulled out a net ball and released her Pokémon.

Said Pokémon was a large arachnid creature with a bubble surrounding it's face. It also had a something of a vacant yet threatening stare. The water bubble Pokémon, Araquanid.

Observing this Pokémon alone projected to Sun how rare it was. An icy stare from the water-bug type made it even harder to argue.

"Wha..."

"This is Araquanid. It's pre-evolution, Dewpider, is already hard to catch. Evolving without a trainer's help doesn't happen a lot, so they are quite rare."

Because Sun had rarely ever seen a Dewpider before he had to agree with what the fisher girl was saying. A sigh was the precursor to his next statement.

"Like I said, arguing with you about water Pokémon is a bad idea." Lana simply stared back as a response.

Discerning this expression was something of a challenge for the Alolan Champion; he was used to Lana's expression of joy, excitement, and intrigue. So this blank expression was very deep and hard to comprehend. Perhaps she was letting the compliment sink in.

"Sun."

"Yeah?"

Responding physically, Lana hooked her index fingers into Sun's mouth and stretched his lips. Such an action was very unexpected and made it even more painful.

It also didn't help that Sun's Wishiwashi was laughing at his expense.

"Wawi, you'we supposed to hewp me!" Complained the trainer.

"Smile."

Sun's attention was directed towards Lana. Her face had changed and was now expressing some concern. The boy could tell that this must have been serious if Lana was doing this.

"Smiwe?"

"I like you when you are happy and smile," explained the blue-eyed girl. "You always seemed happy before, even during the trial."

Reminiscence of that epic challenge brimmed in Sun. When that Wishiwashi arose from the ocean in it's school form and roared down at him. Such a sight would terrify countless people.

But not Sun, he was exhilarated when that happened. He possessed a hot-blooded appetite for Pokémon battles back then.

The lack of such a spirit was now obvious to Sun, and he knew that he could see why.

'I guess Lillie leaving really did hurt me more than I thought,' contemplated the boy. For the third time thus far, his friends saw through his pain. He just kept letting that one event tear him apart.

Was it even possible to move on for him?

Calmly, he pulled Lana's fingers out of his mouth and forced up a grin. This wasn't a true smile, he could feel that in his heart, but he knew that he needed to make the first step towards acceptance.

Changing his expression was appreciated by Lana because she formed a small smile as well.

"Are you going to be happier?" Asked the girl.

"Sometime soon, I hope. Hey, when you catch that Pokémon, will you send me a picture?" Requested the boy.

Lana nodded in response. "Sure, I think that would be good."

A promise was forged between the two of them. They chose to retrieve their Pokémon and depart from each other. Lana boarded for Poni Island while Sun stayed behind. That small smile on the girl's face lingered in Sun's mind.

Reflective sensations stirred in him as he wondered about his attitude. He still partially felt weaker knowing that he would not be able to see Lillie.

Mallow, Lana, and Hau saw straight through him. Talking to Hau was still very difficult for Sun to do. He would need to escalate past all this pain somehow.

'Maybe I should start telling people about it,' admitted the boy in his thoughts. 'But then Gladion would-oh right!'

The interaction with Lana completely made him forget all about meeting with Gladion.

Sun instantly knew that his requester would be even more hard to deal with because of this. So he hurried to get to Aether Paradise. With the ride pager, he called a Charizard and his outfit changed to the riding gear.

A cry from above signaled the coming of the pseudo dragon.

Sun knelt down before leaping up and perfectly landing atop Charizard. He pointed southward.

"Head to Aether Paradise!"

Charizard nodded before flapping its wings to fly faster.

...

Near the Lush Jungle, the blonde girl who had spoken to Sun was surveying the nearby bushes; she felt annoyed and bent down to further inspect the ground.

"Come on, where are you?" Questioned the girl to virtually nothing.

Somehow, as if by divine intervention, she noticed a green shine nearby. An excited smile appeared on her face before going closer to it. She reached into her orange tote bag and pulled out a green and black object with hexagonal surfaces.

No reaction occurred immediately, but the girl's face didn't lose the joyful expression.

"Come on, I promise that you'll be safe in here," urged the blonde girl.

Then, virtually out of nowhere, a creature that she perfectly described to Sun appeared. Reluctance was displayed because it made no action after that.

That didn't last, however, because it converted into light and shot into the object. Said object dimly lit up a few times before projecting two symbols on its surface.

"So we're at nineteen percent now," noted the girl.

Her words and behavior were a clear indicator that she had some experience with this situation. She walked away from the area towards Heahea city.

"I hope that they have some good coffee. This place isn't that interesting without people who use mega evolution."

...

The four islands of Alola all shared one thing in common with one another, they had several different colors that decorated them. All of those mixed together with the ocean to create a very picturesque view.

However, the Aether Paradise was something entirely different.

It was prominently white. Reasons for that color were unknown to most people. White was probably seen as a symbol of purity, what the Aether Foundation was aiming to bestow upon the world by preserving Pokémon.

Either way, it didn't matter to Sun. Meeting with Gladion and making it quick was all that he cared about.

"Thanks for the ride, Charizard," said the boy as he dismounted. The fire-flying type flapped its wings and flew away.

Sun's rider gear disappeared, and he walked into the entrance.

By this time, the trainer had visited the ocean base several times to discuss the Ultra Beasts with Wicke. Walking into the main floor failed present any difficulty to him at first.

"Excuse me, can we help you?"

Following that sound, Sun could see that the receptionist at the front desk was somebody new. She had no idea who he was.

"Uh yes. I'm here to see Gladion," answered Sun.

"Who?"

Confusion and concern congregated in Sun's head. He couldn't understand how the people did not know about Gladion at all. Especially considering that he was the son of their president.

The natural response for anyone in this situation was to repeat what they said.

"Gladion, the son of the president," elaborated the black-haired boy.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have anybody like that here."

Denial of the truth was granting Sun with a sense of fear and anger; Gladion's name must have been well known. The more he thought about it, the more that this started to look like a trap.

Gladion's lack of visual appearance during the call made the scene even more suspicious.

Reminding himself of that made Sun realize that everyone in the reception area was staring at him.

'What is going on here?'

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, hope you like it. Sorry that this one took so long and that it is a little shorter. I was busy moving and had trouble writing during that time. However, I didn't want to make you guys wait too long for the chapter.

So I decided to quickly finish it up so that there is something for you to read. I promise that I'll start on the next chapter tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be done quicker.


	5. A heavy truth

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon...sorry, I can't think of anything funny right now. Why do I have to enter a competition to get the Mega Stones?!

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Sharpened perception was a beneficial skill that many Pokémon Trainers would develop overtime through battles and bonds with their Pokémon. Enough practice could even allow them to notice even the smallest of details in a battle and use that to their advantage.

Despite all that, Sun missed how this could be a possible trap.

'But who could have set this up?' Pondered the young Champion, sweat dripping down his forehead.

After stopping Lusamine and returning, nobody had made the effort to make Sun their enemy. So his roster was limited.

'Did Lusamine set this up? Maybe Guzma is still out on beating me.'

Several possibilities could explain at any time why this was happening; but one thing was for certain, Sun would not go down easily.

'Wawi is probably my most powerful Pokémon, but he can't form into a school without water. Mimi is powerful but what if they use a lot of Pokémon at once?'

Whilst thoughts raged in Sun's head about what strategy to counterattack, the people around him began to stare. This was very unnerving, pressing more urgency on the young trainer to figure out a strategy.

This climaxed when the receptionist started to reach below the desk. Panic spread in the boy's eyes, it was now or never.

'I've got no choice! I'll have to-'

"Wait!"

Attention was quickly directed towards the newcomer on the scene, one that Sun knew he didn't want to see.

"Faba?" Panic was replaced with pure curiosity.

Although the Aether Foundation Branch Executive was never a real threat to Sun, but he still found him rather annoying. Faba's inflated ego made it very difficult to tolerate whenever he brought up his position (which was about every five minutes).

As a matter of fact, dealing with Faba was one of the events that made Sun start to tolerate Gladion.

"What's the matter, Faba?" Asked the Aether Foundation employee.

"This boy doesn't understand. He's actually here to see President Rayharte," explained Faba.

When Sun heard that, he instantly thought that this was a plan cooked up by Lusamine. Attacking right now would allow him the chance to avoid whatever tactic Faba would use to trap him.

'I could just release my Pokémon and-wait, there's too many people.'

If it was true that this was a plan to capture Sun or anything, there was no doubt that Lusamine would have positioned more than just one person.

The suspicious glances from before were stating to make more sense; Aether Foundation employees still battled with Pokémon.

'I guess I should play it out and wait till it's just me and Faba. Yeah, I can take him and Lillie's mom one at a time.'

A grin spread across Sun's face with the belief that he was smart. Playing along with Faba's act would prove useful and entertaining.

"Yes, that's exactly why I am here. I just got it wrong," explained the champion with an obvious pitch change.

Such cooperation was suspicious, but it seemed to work with the employee. She ignored the previous problem and let Sun into the facility.

Walking across the hall normally took only a few seconds; perceiving the time was much different. Sun was carefully plotting when to reach for the pokeball in mind and release his Pokémon.

'There's still a lot of employee's around. I should wait till Faba tries to take me somewhere else,' planned the boy.

Sun's planning would only serve him so well; Faba's walking stopped altogether when they reached the lift.

It appeared that the admin was ready to initiate his plan. People were still around, but Sun knew that this might be his only chance.

'Crap!'

"Did he not tell you?"

Sun's concentration was broken by the confused tone in Faba's voice; it was devoid of malice or sinister intent.

"Tell me what?"

"Did Master Gladion not tell you that he is now the President?" Inquired Faba.

Surprise dominated any sense of caution that was still left in Sun. His thought process was completely tossed about by the simple fact that Gladion was currently the President of the Aether Foundation.

Hindsight did dictate that this as natural. After all, Lusamine was out of commission.

"S-seriously? When did that happen?" Asked the baffled boy.

"He took over three days after the wormhole incident."

Piecing together the facts made Sun realize that this was immediately following the day that he became Champion. Subsequently, it also meant that Gladion was running the place while Sun was looking for Ultra Beasts.

'He could have helped me the whole time!' Screamed the boy in his head. An expression of frustration was clearly visible to the admin in front of him.

"Were you expecting otherwise?"

This snapped Sun out of his mental rage.

"Well, I thought that maybe Lusamine set a trap for me or something." He was a little ashamed to say that.

Inexplicably, Faba laughed in response to that statement, which only made Sun more confused.

"You need not worry about those intentions anymore. The foundation as a whole is fully dedicated to our original goal," explained Faba.

Claiming that the Aether Foundation reformed from diabolical intentions would be a little hard to believe. After all, they were still dedicated to making a paradise for Pokémon and people to exist without threats of violence.

But Sun was one of the few who saw the base of their operations and the methods Lusamine favored.

Those Pokémon, who were literally frozen, probably suffered a lot before at the hands of misfortune. Such a pour experience could only be imagined.

"So you guys are just returning to what you were doing before?" Inquired Sun.

"Yes, the foundation is now completely dedicated to the well being of the environment as a whole through much more careful and considerate methods."

Using the phrase that suggested alternate methods clarified the confusion. Nebby and Lusamine's 'collection' were only two instances that Sun had witnessed.

'Probably best not to learn about the rest,' concluded the boy in his thoughts.

"Well, you should just head up towards the conservation area. Master Gladion is waiting for you." Then Faba leaned in a little closer with a more serious face. "And, if I could get your opinion, do I appear nicer?"

Behavior like this was very different from what Sun had experienced before. Because of this he could see that Faba had reformed from his ways and become a better person.

"Uh, yeah." His answer was a little shaky from how odd that was.

"Yes! Then I will continue down this path!" Proclaimed the man before exiting the scene with a little vigor in his step.

Witnessing the results of this change made the Champion admittedly happy. Knowing that bad people had the capacity for good instilled a little spark of hope in him.

'Makes me wonder what Lusamine would be like if she wasn't so cruel,' pondered Sun.

Though, there wasn't much time for that thought. He pressed a few keys on the control panel and went up to the top floor. Being present there was a good reminder as to why it was called a conservation area.

Water smoothly and faintly provided substance to the plants in the large room. The plants provided clean air and lush views. But what truly made this room so peaceful was how the Pokémon behaved.

Several different Pokémon from around Alola rested there. They were injured, abused, or just not able to survive on their own. It was only with the people of Aether that they could be safe.

"Good to see that this place hasn't changed," noted Sun.

Awaiting him on the other side of the room was Gladion, but he wasn't dressed as he normally would have been.

The blonde boy now wore white, long-sleeved collared shirt, a pair of khaki pants held up by suspenders, and a pair of loafers.

Intrigue and surprise mixed in Sun's eyes when he saw this. Given Gladion's previous clothing choice, he had to know why.

"Uh..." Gladion turned around when he heard Sun.

"Ah, there you are. Thank you for coming." The gratitude would normally warrant the image of a nicer character, but Sun knew that this was strictly business and not friendship.

Forming a response of irritation wasn't really possible because he was still confused about the clothing. Gladion quickly caught onto this confusion.

"Wicke got these for me. If I'm gonna oversee the foundation, I might as well dress the part," explained the blonde haired boy.

"Oh, that makes sense." Sun did recall Lusamine saying something about the importance of clothes at one point. "So, you run the place now?"

Sun was well aware that Gladion had little to no interest in small talk, but he still believed that he deserved an explanation of some kind, regardless of size.

It seemed that the blonde boy thought so too because he decided to explain.

"Lusamine can't fulfill her duties as the president, so I'll take over until she can get back to full health," explained Gladion.

Another trait of Gladion's appeared that Sun didn't like. He didn't have any animosity because of it, but it was always unnerving how Gladion referred to Lusamine by her first name. Sun was fully aware of how hard it was for the blonde boy to respect his mother after all that had happened.

'Still, I don't call Mom by her first name.'

"Regardless, let's get down to business." An authoritative tone snapped the black-haired boy out of his thoughts.

"I have an important task that I want you to undertake. I cannot guarantee your success or even a definite termination of the task."

A calm and orderly tone accompanied that introduction to the task. A confused and baffled expression was offered in response.

"You can't guarantee that I'll die in this?" Questioned Sun, confusing Gladion in the process.

"That's not what I meant," replied Gladion with an obviously irritated voice.

Sun wouldn't say it outloud, but it did feel good to make his friend/enemy irritated at times.

"So what do you want me to do?"

Without answering, Gladion slowly approached the Champion. The few feet of distance between them was briskly reduced to inches. Silence and glaring were still retained in the blonde boy's face.

Replicating this visually was the best that Sun could manage. He was internally concerned at the possible possibilities that could occur.

'What is he doing? Does Gladion really think of me like that? But I-'

Sun's confused and quick stream of thoughts was quickly interrupted by the feeling in his hand.

Reluctantly, he glanced down to see a plain pokeball in his hand. The position of Gladion's indicated that he gave it to Sun.

"Wait, you wanted to trade Pokémon?" Inquired the black-haired trainer but was answered with a shake of the head.

"No, I need you to take care of that Pokémon. It is a gift to you," explained Gladion.

Though, clarification had yet to shine through and properly elaborate upon the situation.

Entrusting the safety of a Pokémon to others was not uncommon, people did it seldom regularly in Alola. So Sun was left without much reason to understand why he was being given this Pokémon.

Adding the health of his relationship with Gladion only made this situation more ambiguous. Only one method seemed to answer it for him.

"So, what kind of Pokémon is it?" Sun's curiosity acted against the plan set by his host.

"No, don't-" Gladion could not stop him, the Pokémon was released.

What emerged from the capture device was a very obscure and rare Pokémon. So rare, in fact, that it had only been seen battling alongside one other person.

The Type: Null stood nonchalantly, analyzing its surroundings slowly.

Seeing this Pokémon shocked Sun. He had only seen Gladion's and was left under the impression that only one existed.

"Gladion, this-" Speech was abruptly ended by the grabbing of his wrist.

The expression on the blonde boy's face had become stressed and concerned. His grip further accented the urgency. This was another phenomenon that Sun had bore witness to only once.

When Lusamine forced the Ultra Wormhole open.

"Wha...what's wrong?" Speaking was a little difficult as Sun implicitly understood the potential threat.

"Hold on," commanded Gladion as he swerved his vision around the area. Entrances, exits, and even the glass ceiling were prone to his glance. He breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Sun's wrist.

"Um..."

"I needed to make sure that nobody was spying on us. Type: Null is an exceedingly rare Pokémon, you know."

Sun was left curious at that explanation, but he soon understood what Gladion was saying. Some people might try to hunt down this Pokémon for some malicious intentions. Why it was being given to him was still something of a mystery.

"Then why are you giving it to me?" Asked the boy with an incriminating gaze.

The implicit glare that Gladion used seldom frequently fought back against that gaze; it seemed that the boys had erupted into a silent conflict.

Breaking the standoff, the blonde boy turned to observe the behavior of the Pokémon in the area. Interest of the possible intention moved Sun to follow this action.

In the nearby pond, several water Pokémon enjoyed what time that they could spend there. Visible marks on their bodies were clear indicators of their abuse and handicaps.

A Vaporeon swam up towards the shallower water, which revealed a water-proof bandage on its left front paw. Its struggle to maintain proper footing was a pitiful and sad sight to bear witness to.

However, the efforts of the poor water Pokémon didn't remain unnoticed. Gladion's Silvally approached the crippled Vaporeon and gently picked up the Pokémon with its mouth.

'Wow.' Sun was completely touched as he watch Silvally carry the water Pokémon to a more comfortable area.

"From what I experienced, Type: Null evolves into Silvally through a strong bond with a human," said Gladion.

Sun accepted that possibility. He knew of several Pokémon that evolved by sharing a good bond with their trainer.

"Mine shows great love and care for those around it. Sivally should not be seen as weapons, but instead as gentle creatures of our world."

Such a motivating and honest reason moved Sun a little. He started to see Gladion as a different person altogether.

"So you want me to raise this one?" Sun pointed towards the normal type Pokémon for emphasis, which Gladion nodded about.

Warm feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction spread throughout the Champion at the thought of this. The simple fact that his friend/enemy recognized his level of skill with Pokémon was baffling to simply think.

However, something about this didn't feel right to him.

'I do want to help Pokémon out...but I don't know how many more I can take care off,' thought the boy as he contemplated this task.

Bonding with his own Pokémon was easy because of the enthusiasm and energy he possessed at the beginning of his journey. That energetic drive had since dwindled without enough motivating goals around him.

It was already hard enough to find the Ultra Beasts, and Sun couldn't hold onto those guys for too long.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't think I don't want to do this." His apology was sincere, without any trace of irritation or anger. "I don't think I have fully connected with my Pokémon yet, so I should before I can try with this one."

"Sun, I need you to do this. You're the only one in Alola who can achieve this," retorted the blonde boy.

A knife stabbed into Sun's mind, breeding small bits of frustration.

"Look, I appreciate that you believe in me, but I just don't think that I should do this."

"I understand that too, but I can only think of two other people besides me who can do this." That explanation instantly required clarification.

"Who would the other be?"

Gladion's eyes quickly narrowed in response, a resentful action.

"You, I, and Lillie are the only people capable of this."

If the knife was Gladion's retort, then this was an icy stalagmite hitting the Alolan Champion. His old feelings started to return to him.

'No, I can't let myself feel like that. I promised Mallow! She made me...she made me...'

Sun's thoughts were settled on that for a second. He was practically forced into that promise by the bribe of a cure from torture which he was also forced into. Blame and resentment couldn't surface to the boy's consciousness, though.

"Look," said Gladion, breaking Sun out of his depressing thoughts.

"I understand that you don't want to do this, but sometimes it is about what you need to do, not what you want."

A few backwards steps were taken by Gladion to give some room to Sun, physically and metaphorically.

Forming a response for Sun was impossible at the moment; he was still caught up in his thoughts to Mallow's promise. Gladion's words only succeeded in aiding this paralysis.

'What I need to do...but am I the only one? Maybe...' There was only so little that he could even produce in thought.

One desire did rise out through his torpid state, he needed to get away and think. Impulse immediately guided his next decision.

"Alright, I'll do it." Whether or not that was what he wanted to say didn't matter. Accepting the task was the only way to escape the situation.

"Thank you. I wish you the best of luck raising Type: Null. I have to return to some business."

Without even pausing for some kind of response, Gladion excused himself from the scene; but it didn't matter. Sun could barely form an controlled expression. On the inside, he was starting to fall apart.

He only managed to notice his surroundings once he was alone with Type: Null. The Pokémon didn't make a sound at all, signifying it's neutral state of being.

"Well, I guess your my friend now," said the boy. There was no response from the synthetic being.

"We'll get to know each other more later," promised the boy before returning Type: Null to its pokeball.

Once again, Sun was lost with very little direction to got towards. He could have gone back to his house on Melemele Island, but he was not so sure if he could face his mother at the moment.

'Maybe I should just walk around for a bit,' concluded the boy.

Following that resolve, he went down to the harbor of Aether Paradise. The boat ride to the nearest port was weighed down by Sun's depressing mood.

His vision moved towards the ocean; there was implicit hope that it might mend him. This hope held no actual merit because the big wide blue scenery was so different from before.

'It's nothing like when I was with Lillie and Hau.'

That moment when they were sailing from Melemele island to Akala island was abundant with joy and laughter.

Although Sun had trouble facing Hau at the moment, he longed for a return to those times.

'But...I just...I just can't...'

Eventually, Sun had made it to The Hano Grand Resort on Akala Island. The incentive of money by way of part time job was still on his mind, and he hoped that this would help him get better.

It failed to do so.

Now, with nothing left to do, the Alolan Champion sat on the beach. Loneliness hung him down as he kept thinking of the previous interactions with his friends.

"I know that Mallow and Lana were just trying to be nice...but I still feel like I was forced into that," whispered Sun.

"Forced into what?"

Flinching, Sun turned over to see that Professor Kukui had approached him. That earlier desire to avoid him had dissipated and there was nothing left in its place.

"I-it's nothing," lied the boy. He didn't want to admit to anything about his feelings at the moment.

"If you say so; did you not see me before?" Asked Kukui with the memory of the previous event still on his mind.

"No, sorry." Sun's lie was completely guided by impulse.

As sad as it may be, he didn't truly understand what he was doing or even how he was feeling at the moment. Impulse appeared to be the only option he could rely upon.

None of this sorrowful condition was being detected by Kukui, though. The professor looked out to the open ocean with his casually cheerful face.

Many Finneon were jumping out of the water and using their water pulse moves. However, they were not attacking each other; these attacks were probably being done as part of a social ritual.

Witnessing this was such a privilege that even Sun was able to recognize.

"That sure is amazing, isn't it?" Commented Kukui on the unique sight.

"Yeah, I guess." The tone of the young Champion was still held down. It was quickly met by Kukui's curious expression.

"Alright, what's holding ya down?"

Sun didn't bring himself to look at Kukui. Merely being questioned about his mood was starting to irritate him.

"Nothing. I'm fine." His voice was solidified by stubbornness, but this did little to deter the professor.

"I ran into Hau earlier, and he told me that you weren't doing so well."

Kukui's explanation was like using a sheer cold attack on a paralyzed Metagross; Sun knew that he could not escape this. Explaining himself felt ironically appropriate considering his impulsive nature at the moment.

"Alright, I'm not doing so well," admitted the young trainer.

"Thought so. You've been very different since Lillie left," noted the dark-skinned man.

That same comment that he heard from Hau was stinging him again. Sun wanted to escape from the scene, but he lacked the mental energy to do so at all.

Nodding, he accepted that he could not hold this depression in.

"Look, I know that you and her are good friends, but you can't stay like this forever."

"I know. But it's just..." This torrent of confusion rendered the poor boy unable to properly understand.

Such was the dramatic and pitiful fate of people like him. Caught between the desires of those they care for and their own, they can only keep persisting with this perpetual pain in their heart.

It was like a poison needle of a Beedrill. Sun could pull it out a little and lessen the suffering, but he lacked the strength to completely remove it.

Only the help of other people could do such.

"Sounds like you need some help." Kukui's words were far too obvious to Sun until he saw the man pull something out of his lab coat pocket.

What Kukui held in his hand was a pink book with a golden lock on the front. The lock had been through damage of some sort, making the book easy to open.

"What's that?"

"Lillie's diary."

Unexpectedly, Sun felt a surge of fear well up inside of him. This was a golden opportunity to peer into the thoughts of the person whom he cherished so. Despite that, he felt terrified near it.

"I accidently saw a few pages in it, and I feel like you have the right to as well," explained Kukui.

The diary was presented before Sun, despite the pained expression he was casting.

"I don't want to."

"I know, but I think you need to."

Fear.

"Why? Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you need to get better, you can't just stay like this."

Pain.

Everything he hated, everything he feared, it all felt like it was being forced on him at once.

"Sun, I know you are supposed to be full of happiness. That's what made-"

"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP FORCING EVERYTHING ON ME!?"

Sun's sudden explosion of emotion startled Kukui. It was wretched by pain and sorrow, but loud enough to stop everything that heard it. The Finneon ceased their jolly interaction with worried and scared eyes.

Perhaps the sufferer was just as shocked and confused as his audience was.

He couldn't muster anymore words, and fled from the beach.

"Sun, wait!" Kukui attempted to give chase to the boy but miraculously couldn't keep up.

As the Champion of Alola ran further and further away, something fell off of him. Rotom quickly popped out to try and pick it up before he realized that he was separated from Sun.

Kukui ran over and met the Pokémon/machine before leaning down and picking up the item.

"Wow, that was..."

"Yeah. He really is beat up over Lillie." Stated Kukui.

The Pokémon/machine and professor looked in the direction that their friend left, the latter holding a nest ball in his hand.

Sun didn't care how far he ran, he didn't care how long he ran, all he wanted to do was run away from all of the pain and fear.

But there was no way he could achieve that. He looked out to the sea. There was no relief from viewing such a vast water.

"Why? Why can't I just make this pain go away?!" Yelled the boy, cracking his voice towards the end.

Nobody answered his suffering. Even though Sun knew his Pokémon were always with him, he still felt so alone. However, there was one presence that he could feel, and he knew what it was.

Without any words or emotions on his face, he pulled out the pokedoll from his backpack. He looked deeply at the vacant expression, almost mirroring it until his eyes began to water.

"It...still smells like vanilla."

There was nothing more else that he could think, the pain had already destroyed so much of him. Only one action seemed appropriate for his wounded heart.

Sun could feel somewhere in the back of his mind that this decision would be regretful; he ignored any caution towards it.

With a step back, he threw the pokedoll out towards the ocean. Immediately, regret pounced on him as he realized his actions. Sun leapt forward with desperation. The ground met his descent and stopped him as he saw the pink toy fall over the ledge.

Regret and depression set in, tearing the boy down to even further depths of despair.

Now he could only mutter one more thing.

"...Lillie...I'm sorry..."

* * *

Wow...that was pretty sad and dramatic to write.

Well, I'm sorry that this chapter took forever to write. I've been trying to do so many things lately and this doesn't get enough mental power devoted to it. For that, I apologize again.

Please try to stay with me as I will be trying my best for this. As always, leave a review, or favorite/follow this story. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. A lesson of heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, otherwise you'd be able to catch the legendary birds in Pokémon Go.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

That night, with the boat's silent hum and her three friends present, Lillie prepared her farewells. Professor Kukui was trying to give her the most assuring grin, Hau was trying to rationalize with this, but Sun harbored the worst response.

He personally looked devastated at this revelation. The sheer fact that he would no longer get to see Lillie on a regular basis did more to him than even she thought. So some form of mending was necessary.

"I-I'm sorry that I have to go." Her words were filled with honest sentiment and regret. "But I need to do this to make myself stronger and to help my mother."

Sun and Hau struggled to deny that, even though they both wanted to so badly.

"Of course I am going to miss Alola...but going to Kanto fills me with excitement," proclaimed the girl. "I'll meet all kinds of wonderful Pokémon and become stronger just like you two have."

Somehow, through a mix of honesty and flattery, Lillie managed to convince Hau of her determination. Albeit, not entirely.

"Fine! But, I am going to send you a really long letter! You better wait!" The boy was being torn up on the inside, but he forced up his cheerful smile for his friend.

"Oh, Hau." Lillie had become accustomed to his genuine kindness and enjoyed it. "I promise I will. And please...take this."

She wandered over to Hau and handed him something. Whatever it was, it lied outside of Sun's peripheral vision. He couldn't be convinced so easily about letting go, not after everything that had happened.

The feelings that he held for his friend were beginning to flourish under the pressure.

This would probably be his only chance.

"Sun." Her voice attracted his attention. "I know that it is hard to say goodbye after everything we've all been through."

Lillie's innocence and honest feelings made it impossible for Sun to hold her back, even if he didn't want to let go.

"Y-yeah...after everything we've been through..." Muttered the boy.

"So I-"

"But don't worry about us!"

Sun's sudden words sparked surprise and interest in everyone else, especially Lillie.

"B-because I know that we will always be friends even if we're miles apart. So we'll definitely meet again sometime, and we'll go on more adventures, and become stronger, and see many more sights!"

All through his promise, the newly proclaimed Champion pushed up a big grin to assure his words.

It succeeded in keeping happiness with Lillie as well.

"Yes. I know one day, I will definitely return to Alola. I don't know when, but I definitely will," promised the blonde girl.

Sorrow was tearing up Sun's mind, but he kept a strong and happy face throughout it all.

"Then please hold onto this for me. At least until we meet again." Lillie approached Sun and handed him a pokedoll, a prized possession of hers.

"Got it! I promise I'll return it to you someday!"

...

Thinking of that ruined Sun with depression and hate. He had broken the promise. He had thrown away Lillie's keepsake. It was all his fault. All of this because of his frustration and inability.

There was absolutely nobody else to blame for this but himself.

"...Lillie...I'm so sorry..." Apologized the boy before a few tears began to fall down his face.

"Oi! Don't call me a girl's name!"

The sudden and angry voice drew Sun away from his sorrowful state. He looked up to see that another guy was standing up in front of the cliff. This person was a brunette with gray eyes that was probably two or three years older than Sun.

Attention towards the person was short lived because Sun noticed that he was holding the pokedoll. Desperation took over with no thought.

"Please give me that!" The young Champion leapt to his feet to get the toy back.

However, the other person was much taller and held it above his head. This resulted in a sad display of Sun trying to jump up and get the item back.

"Just please give me that back!" Begged the black-haired boy.

"First tell me why you called me a girl's name!" Retorted the older boy, some anger seasoning his voice.

Neither the end of pitiful efforts or acceptance of that demand occurred. All Sun could focus on was a chance at redemption.

So in tune with his one desire, he didn't even notice the change in facial expression for the older boy. Curiosity became the central feature.

"Wait a minute...I've seen you somewhere before." This statement drew Sun out of his trance.

"That doesn't matter, just give me that back," demanded the boy ever so fervently.

Curiosity morphed into annoyance that the older boy expressed with this furrowed eyebrows. He nonchalantly pushed Sun back with his free hand. Although the effort didn't seem like much, the younger of the two was sent back several feet.

Still standing and surprised, the boy started to flare with anger.

"Don't do that!" He raised his fist for an attack.

Unfortunately, the Champion stood no chance as his punch was easily caught. A perfect view of those serious gray eyes was presented to him.

"Calm down." These words were filled with power, enough to intimidate Sun.

The brunette put the pokedoll in a green backpack he had; there was no resistance to hinder him. He pointed to Sun and then back to him.

"You, me, and any of our Pokémon who are up for it."

"Up for what?"

"Isn't it obvious? A Pokémon battle."

Something small yet alluring pinged somewhere inside of Sun. He was well aware of his innate desires, but he could also feel the overbearing desire to remain as he was.

"But...I-"

"C'mon, there's a big place over here. I think you really need this," explained the boy, turning around to walk further down the road.

Without looking around, he knew that his opponent-to-be was not following. There was still some level of reluctance present.

"If you win, I'll give you back the toy."

Hope brightened up on Sun's face with a trace of desperation. Witnessing the strength of this guy proved that he couldn't just take the doll back with force alone. This task was not one that Sun would be able to complete on his own.

Even underneath all of his despair and sorrow, he still believed in his Pokémon.

"Alright, but you better not be lying," threatened the boy.

A wave of the hand dismissed this. "Don't worry. I'll definitely give it back if you win."

Accepting that promise as honesty, Sun followed this boy to the battlefield. The walk over gave him the opportunity to realize the appearance of this brunette.

This guy was wearing a green, sleeveless shirt with a black line down the middle. Gray khaki shorts were below that shirt, and a pair of green and white shoes were even further below; a lack of socks suggest that they were waterproof shoes meant for exercise.

Despite this fairly normal appearance, a white knit hat remained completely out of Sun's notice till now.

'I would have thought that his hair is white if I didn't see it.' The brunette's bangs were clearly visible from the front as well as the back.

There was another feature that seemed a little odd about his appearance. A white bracelet was strapped to this boy's left wrist. At first glance, this looked like a Z-ring, but the pattern was different, and there was a rainbow orb embedded in it instead of a Z crystal.

Whatever this meant would have to wait; Sun's interests were more internal at the moment.

Sparks and embers for battling were still kindling inside the young boy. However, he found his opponent to be very annoying.

"But it's the only way to get it back," muttered Sun in a low volume.

Unbeknownst to him, the other boy frowned disappointingly.

The two boys arrived at a large battlefield; it was at least ten meters by four meters.

"Alright, this will do," said the older boy before sticking up three fingers. "We'll do a three-on-three! Good with you?"

"Yeah. But I can do better with one-on-one," noted Sun, to which his opponent sighed annoyingly.

"But that's no fun right now."

Sun couldn't see anything past his own wearing patience. Beating this annoying person was the primary initiative in his mind, even if he might enjoy the battle.

"I, Brendan Kobushi, alongside my Pokémon, challenge you!"

"Fine! Prepare to get served by Sun Mikazuki!"

Brendan reached to grab a pokeball, but not without a smirk and a scoff.

'Get served? Who says that anymore?' Thought the brunette. "Go, Natsumi!"

From the tiny sphere emerged a Ninetales, a non-Alolan one. This had been the first time since Kanto that Sun had seen one like this.

'No time to be thinking about that,' thought the Alolan Champion as he reached around instinctively and sent out a pokeball.

"Let's do this, Nebby!"

But this wasn't the Pokémon he was expecting. A Type:Null was in place of the Moone Pokémon.

Surprised, Sun checked the pokeballs that he had with him. All were accounted for except for the nest ball that usually housed Nebby.

'When did-' He quickly realized that he must've lost the pokeball during his emotional episode.

A lack of mechanical commentary also alerted him to Rotom's absence. Ice ran through his veins as he realized what this meant.

"That's a weird looking Pokemon," noted Brendan. "I've never seen anything like it."

The brunette quickly noticed that his opponent was not paying attention, an action that was irritating to watch.

"Oi! Keep your head in the game!" Shouted Brendan.

Sun's head quickly snapped to the side as he recalled his current position; and what a predicament it was. This guy had the doll which he needed to get back more than anything. But if he didn't leave now, there was no telling what Nebby and Rotom would have to endure.

Pinned between a rock and a hard place. All because of his own emotions again.

'I...I...I have to.' Sun swallowed all his regret.

"Null, use crush claw!"

Every part of him hated leaving Rotom and Nebby alone, so he would have to finish this fight fast. This escalated into more frustration when his Pokémon didn't act.

'What's wrong? Didn't he hear me?' Sun prepared to issue another command, but his Pokémon was quickly engulfed in flames.

A flick of the head, and he could see that Brendan and his Ninetales were staring over with faces bordering beside boredom.

"I told you to keep your head in the game," repeated the brunette.

"Fine. Type: Null, use crush claw!" Sun quickly rationalized that the full use of the name might work.

His idea succeeded as the chimera Pokémon sprinted forward before extending it's left claw. Unexpectedly, Natsumi jumped back and dodged the attack entirely.

"What?"

"Use psyshock," commanded Brendan. His fire fox summoned psychic pellets that rained down onto Type: Null.

Covering his eyes, Sun could feel frustration before the small tremors. He didn't even need to see the result to understand that his Pokémon was already defeated. Only one round displayed the gap between the two.

'It's alright. I just haven't gotten to know Type: Null yet,' thought the Alola trainer before retrieving his Pokémon. 'So I should use someone I'm more comfortable with.'

The circumstances almost seemed perfect for him to send out Wawi; a water type Pokémon who he was good friends with. However, the field was too far away from the water.

'I should save Manny for last. Charlie wouldn't last long out there. I should send out either Mimi or Maggie.'

Thinking about the previous result dictated the rest of the boy's thought; he chose to send out his Mismagius.

Although his Mimikyu was much stronger than his Mismagius, the pure ghost type had a deeper bond with him. There was also another reward for him in this situation.

"We won't let the same thing happen again," said Sun before he noticed the expression on his opponent's face.

Brendan had taken some discomfort towards the introduction of Maggie.

"You...are you afraid of ghosts or something?" Inquired Sun, a little disappointment set in. His opponent shook his head briskly.

"N-no! Just been a while that I've seen one," explained the brunette. "Natsumi, use flamethrower!"

The nine-tailed fox breathed out a stream of fire. Covering herself with her cloth-like appendages was Maggie's best method of defending herself.

"Maggie, use thunder wave!" A quick flip of those arms and the Mismagius sent sparks of electricity towards her opponent.

Natsumi was left paralyzed and immediately slower than Maggie. This did little to hinder her fighting spirit, though.

'Paralyzing his opponent eh? That's too simple. C'mon, show me what you've really got,' thought Brendan in his mind.

Boredom was blatantly present on Brendan's face. Obviously, this irritated Sun further. His fighting spirit was starting to wane away to nothing and his concern for Nebby and Rotom wasn't too far behind.

"Maggie, use hex!" Commanded the black-haired boy, allowing his irritation to control him.

The wraith Pokémon floated over towards Natsumi calmly in spite of the latter's fearsome gaze. With a raise of her pointed head, Maggie prepared to inflict her attack upon her opponent.

'Come on, just stand there and take it.' Sun was eager to even the score.

Maggie connected her head towards Natsumi's, inflicting a large amount of damage and even getting a critical hit.

Pumping his fists, Sun could feel that victory wasn't so far away right now. All he could see is the success of his Pokémon's efforts with his tactics.

"You see that? You're not so tough after all!" Sun's words were shameful for a Champion to be saying.

His bravado wouldn't last long, however. Natsumi's eyes glared ominously which Maggie saw. Before any reaction could be made, the magical Pokémon was bombarded by a barrage of Natsumi's paws.

The ceasing of the attack was followed by Maggie collapsing on the ground with swirls in her eyes; she was out.

"Uh...I...what?"

"That was payback. Since Natsumi was going to attack after your Pokémon, it was a good idea," explained the brunette.

Sun could barely fathom his position in this battle. The only person who had ever push him so far into a corner like this was Kukui, and he still had a fighting chance even then.

But Brendan was on a whole other level, like he had been battling for ages longer.

This three versus three battle was quickly becoming pitiful, and both of the boys knew it. Sun had only two choices left to resort to. Only one of those stood a chance.

'Alright buddy, I'll have to rely on you for the win!' Thought the boy as he pulled out a plain pokeball.

"Go, Manny!" Yelled the young boy as he sent out his Incineroar.

The heel wrestler slammed onto the battlefield with a vigorous roar; his blazing entrance was enough to grab Brendan's attention. It even put a smirk on his face.

"Hey, Natsumi, why don't you get a rest?" Asked the brunette. She didn't seem so compliant with that at first. "I promise I won't send out Rin for this one."

Saying that made the Ninetales more compliant to pull back from the battle.

"Don't worry, we'll play more later," promised Brendan as he retrieved her. That statement irritated his opponent.

'Of course you would think this is just playing,' thought Sun sourly in his mind.

Manny didn't want to show any of his reluctance to his trainer's face. Not only was there no large crowd to cheer him on, but the way his trainer was acting was very dark and wrong.

This was nothing like the happy and excited boy he remembered from Igi Town.

"C'mon, Apato!" Brendan tossed out a regular Pokeball and released a Breloom.

"Huh? I've never seen that kind of Pokémon before," said Sun.

A very odd appearance was clear evidence that this Pokémon didn't naturally live in Alola. However, Apato's practice punches and sidesteps were displaying that he was clearly ready for battle.

Manny didn't share in that enthusiasm. Having few witnesses and an opponent that was significantly shorter than he was prompted the fire tiger to drop his fighting stance.

"Manny! What are you doing?" Questioned the irritated boy. "I know there isn't an audience, but I need your help!"

The boy's dialogue was still riddled with anger, but it was slowly turning into begging. His Pokémon responded by turning to face him, scoffing, and turning back with a new fighting stance.

"Alright, then use flame charge!" Commanded the boy.

Cloaking himself in flames, the Incineroar charged forward. This attack would be supereffective against a grass type Pokémon like Breloom. His arms were splayed out as a method of intimidation and to prevent the Breloom from dodging left or right.

Despite knowing this, Brendan made no verbal commands. Sun noticed this and became nervous as he remembered what happened last time.

'No! He can't do anything like that against someone so strong as Manny,' thought the boy.

"Mach punch!"

The tiny red claw connected with Manny's abdomen before he could impact. It wasn't strong enough to completely stop Manny, so Apato took the full force of the charge.

Sun burned with some more frustration. His Pokémon did succeed in landing significant damage and increasing his speed, but it seemed like his opponent was still three steps ahead.

Calm and ready expressions between Brendan and Apato only added more fuel to the fire.

"Manny, flamethrower!" Yelled Sun. His partner obliged, pelvic thrusting fire towards the Breloom.

"Jump, Apato!" Brendan did not specify a command, but his Pokémon knew what to do.

Fearless in the face of fire, the mushroom-like boxer dashed forward towards the fire. He leapt up and dodged the threat of flames.

"Force palm!"

Manny, who was left stunned by his opponent's incredible bravery and speed, could do nothing as his face was partially smashed in. A stumble back, and he was holding his face in pain.

"No...there's no way..." Muttered the Alolan Champion.

Never once had he thought of himself as the best. There was always the possibility that stronger trainers and their Pokémon were out there.

However, bearing witness to his closest partner stumble in pain and exhaustion was something else entirely. Nothing could reach the Pokémon of this trainer.

This didn't stop Manny. Without being issued any commands, the tiger wrestler lunged forward with a cross chop.

A reward in the form of visual surprise was presented to Manny. He gladly pounced upon his opponent's startle.

"Uppercut!" Although Brendan did not pronounce the full name, his Pokémon still understood what to do.

Apato discarded any surprise, lunged forward, and delivered a fierce sky uppercut to the lower jaw.

'Dang it, Manny, you shouldn't have-,' Sun cut his thoughts short when he realized something crucial about that attack.

It lacked hesitation and genuine care, it was driven by a simple-minded desire to win, and it was something that he would've commanded Manny to do. Realization about this current state was finally starting to hit the boy.

Even his desire to find Rotom and Nebby was starting to fade.

"I gotta say, you're not nearly as good as you should be," commented Brendan, dragging attention to him.

"What do you mean?" Asked Sun in a mix of fear and pain.

"You're the Champion, right? So you should be able to give us a hard time. But I can see that you're not all there," answered the brunette.

Being held up high by the status of a Champion and having to deal with the expectations of such were nuisances to Sun. Irritation brewed when he thought of the many times that people would want to challenge him just because he attained such a position.

The fact that foreigners such as this random guy repeated the expectation only made him angrier.

"So what? What's so good about being the champ anyway?" Asked the boy with his anger leaking out.

Intimidation failed to affect Brendan; he only seemed to fight back with his own expressions.

That didn't last because he stared down to his left hand. Closing and opening his fist, the gray-eyed boy was pondering how to answer.

"Being stronger than anyone else for everyone else."

Those pierced through all anger and irritation that was brewing in Sun's heart and shot straight into his soul. Outdoing everyone else was something that he was already aware of, but doing it for someone other than himself was something new.

"We have to be strong for everybody. They need someone to protect them."

Sun already had prior convictions about what strength meant, so this didn't register with him entirely. Learning of his weakness by his own definition restrained him from accomplishing this strength.

'But I was strong before.' He remembered that his suffering didn't always hold him back.

It was like looking through a slide show of Sun's own adventure for him. All those times when he had to protect or save people from Team Skull. The times that he had to save Nebby and assist Lillie.

Despite the truth that was being preached toward him, the Alolan Champion still had one more point against it.

"But I can't help it. I'm just one person, I have feelings too!" Retorted Sun strongly. His voice was drenched with all the emotions that had been holding him down. "All my friends keep forcing me to do things that I don't want to do, telling me that I should smile more even when I can't feel it, telling me that I'm the only one who can do something when I don't want to. I just..."

Sun didn't notice it, but Brendan had crossed over the battlefield and stood in front of him. "You're right, you've got feelings to."

That was unexpected, to actually receive any recognition about his pain. "So why-"

"But a Champion needs to be able to endure pain, especially if it is for friends. If they're your friends, then they care about you too."

Widening his eyes, Sun remembered and realized what he was doing that night on the pier. He had chosen to endure his own suffering to assure Lillie her dreams. He had held up against all the pain while knowing what it would mean.

And right now, his friends needed him to endure his own suffering.

"It looks like you didn't notice," stated Brendan.

"Yeah, I was just so...so caught up thinking about myself. I forgot what friendship meant," answered the younger boy.

"That's not what I was talking about." The retort brought curiosity that prompted Sun to pull his head up.

Brendan's gaze was focused on Manny, who was struggling on one knee to stay up. A glare pointed out towards the brunette.

"Your Pokémon are your friends too. Apato should've beat him down with the first punch, but it looks like your friend endured a lot for you."

It was true, Sun didn't notice before. He had known Manny to be prone to glaring in the middle of battle; however, this was much different. Manny glared to show anger and intimidation towards the opponent. There was intimidation in those eyes at the moment, but Sun could see something else.

'Care...'

The anger melted away, the sorrow evaporated, and the sting was gone. All that pain about losing Lillie no longer held Sun down.

Slowly, the boy walked over to Manny and patted him on the chest. This action thoroughly confused the Incineroar.

"Thank you. Thank you for enduring for me, Manny," said Sun. His eyes showed peace and understanding now.

Manny saw those eyes and scoffed. He fell backwards and scratched the back of his head. Sun couldn't help but laugh in response.

Happiness stemmed from those whom he shared his adventure with. Clarity now allowed him to see that he was in no short supply of people that cared for him.

Brendan was also somebody deserving of some appreciation. The power and bonds that he held with his Pokémon aided Sun in reminding him of his.

"Hey, thanks for-" When Sun turned his head, Brendan and his Pokémon had disappeared.

All that was left in place was the pokedoll. Mouth agape, Sun turned to Manny, who was equally surprised.

"Hey! Where'd you go?!" Yelled the young Champion. No response came at all.

Although cliché, this made both trainer and Pokémon wonder if that Brendan guy was even there to begin with. It was definitely a transitional and emotional experience regardless of the authenticity of it.

There was also now a chance for Sun at redemption, Lillie's Pokedoll, but he was reluctant to take it.

'I tried to throw it away, so is it really ok for me to take it again?' He was scared of losing it again.

Sun's reluctance by humility didn't last long, however. His eyes lit up with determination before kneeling down to pick up the doll.

"I won't lose it again. I made a promise to Lillie," said the boy. "Get some rest, Manny. You and all of my Pokémon definitely deserve it."

The fire Pokémon smirked before returning to the pokeball.

Putting the pokeball back on his belt and the pokedoll in his bag, Sun looked up to the sky. He glanced at the large orb in the sky before shielding his eyes. What he was told reminded him of how the sun was a source of life for everything.

No longer was he held down by the regret or pain. He could now see the sun in a much brighter light then before.

'Kinda feels like I'm a lot lighter' Sun was well aware of his non-avian capabilities, but it was enjoyable to imagine that he could.

Imagination must have taken a turn towards reality because Sun was literally being pulled away from the ground. Surprise overtook him, and the boy realized that four white fingers interlaced around his sides. Turning around, he could see who had grabbed him.

"Nebby!"

The Moone Pokémon stared back at him with an upset expression before yelling something incomprehensible.

"Finally, you're pretty hard to find, partner." Rotom came into view alongside Nebby. They must have been searching for him.

Answering to either one of them was hard for the boy because he was completely paralyzed with happiness. Although faint, he couldn't stop worrying about them even when he was consumed by suffering. That problem was now cleared from his mind entirely.

His head dipped slightly and he trembled.

"Guys...I'm so glad you're both okay."

"That's not the problem here. What was with you earlier?" Asked Rotom.

Pulling his head up, Sun could clearly see that he was not the only one worrying. Self pity and anger blinded him before. His Pokémon, his friends, had cared for him all along.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough before," explained the boy. "But I'm not going to waste anymore time feeling sorry for myself."

Rotom displayed some surprise before giving an expression of comprehension, a quick smile. This was incredibly touching, but Nebby didn't offer the same expression.

The Lunala no longer looked upset; rather, it looked like it was hurt. Seeing this instilled concern Sun. His answer could have been delivered incorrectly. However, one look into Nebby's red eyes helped to understand.

Before, he had believed that being strong meant emotionally supporting himself. Now he knew what it really meant.

"Thank you for caring. I promise that I'll stay strong. For you guys as well."

Promises didn't always last, and they all knew it. There would always be an instance where that strength falters. Yet, in spite of that, having the state of mind to promise was enough.

Nebby's smile made sure of that.

"You are strong, Sun. I should know." The Champion noticed Kukui's arrival on the scene. "Looks like you got yourself worked out."

Sun patted Nebby's hand as a sign to be put down. His Pokémon obliged, allowing him to a closer level with the professor.

"Yeah, sorry about earlier," apologized the boy. Kukui responded with a wave of the hand.

"Don't worry about it now." He reached into his lab coat and pulled out the diary again.

Without any words, Sun knew what this meant. The light from his smile dimmed slightly as some latent fear about the past hung over him. One look and nod towards Kukui managed to erase that doubt.

Sun took hold of the book and cracked it open slowly. 'Just hope Lillie doesn't mind me reading through this.'

The first entry that he could see was lengthy and written in cursive, evidence of how Lillie was a dexterous girl. Her story started with learning how to escape the foundation with Nebby; she was planning on meeting with Professor Burnet.

Reading further into the diary revealed that she and Nebby escaped by teleporting away from Aether Paradise; that was how Lillie met with Burnet and Kukui. Questions about Alola were scattered through the text, suggesting that Lillie was not native to the region.

'That wasn't too hard to guess,' thought Sun.

Lillie's journeys and encounters were documented further in her diary. It almost felt like Sun was experiencing her adventure as well. All of this reached the emotional climax when he turned to the last page.

'The day we met.'

The experience from Lillie's perspective had been carefully transferred onto paper by ink. Her fear, her frustration, and her awe when Sun saved Nebby. He then realized that he made her happy and inspired her to grow stronger.

Despite how much closer this made Sun feel to her, the last line was what surprised him the most.

'That boy, Sun,...I won't forget him...'

Reading that final line sent an epiphany the boy's way. That one experience was enough to give them a bond that only flourished as time passed. It was only then that Sun realized what it meant.

"So." Kukui's words tore him away from the diary. "You think you can keep going now?"

Completely free from his emotional prison, Sun spread a smile.

"Yeah. I definitely can."

* * *

Thank you all for reading this chapter; I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review or favorite/follow the story, really means a lot to me. I'm not sure how much longer this fanfiction will go since it is not a retelling like my previous works, but I do plan on finishing it.


	7. A road to redemption

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Pokémon Go would be much more akin to the main Pokémon style.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

He could feel it.

Sun could feel the amazing rush, sparked by the epic battle that took place before him. The crystal dome above showed the sky as the sun rose; it felt like all of Alola was watching this battle.

"Charlie, use discharge!" Commanded the young boy with enthusiasm.

The flying stag beetle unleashed its most powerful attack onto his opponent, Kukui's Primarina.

Being a water-fairy type almost guaranteed that this Pokémon would be taken down by this single hit, yet the water songstress managed to take the hit.

"Alright! Use hyper voice!" Commanded the professor with vigor.

His Pokémon somehow stood upright on her tail fluke and released a deafening tune. Covering his ears for protection was the natural response for Sun.

Charlie didn't have such luxury. With tiny arms and no external ears to cover, the stag beetle Pokémon took the entire attack. He was left struggling to stay in the air.

"Oh no! Get some rest!" The young trainer pulled out a pokeball and retrieved Charlie.

When reaching for the next Pokeball, he noticed that Kukui had withdrawn Primarina.

"You guys were doing good. Why are you withdrawing her?" Asked the confused boy.

"There's more to fighting than simply beating whoever is in front of you," answered Kukui.

Excitement ran through the young body of Sun. This battle was escalating to such high heights for him. Doubts of achieving victory were present, but he could not care less; fighting alongside his friends to the best of his abilities made him happy.

"Yosh, bring it!"

"Come on out!" Kukui made no mention of his Pokémon as he tossed the pokeball.

Said Pokémon launched out of the pokeball with high speed. So fast, in fact, that it headed straight for Sun. The young boy had no time to react before it hit him in the face.

With his sight blinded, the young trial-goer had to rely on his other senses. Whatever hit him had no intention of getting off. It was warm, almost hot, and it had a greasy feel. It was as if Sun had been hit in the face by a-

...

Sun's eyes popped open as he laid down in bed with his pajamas. Some sweat was dripping down his forehead.

'Why do I keep having dreams that end with malasadas?' Questioned the boy.

A lack of light was indication that it was currently evening. Shifting his head against the pillow, Sun saw that his clock read 3:02 in the morning.

He sat up from his bed with a hint of exhaustion. The events of the day prior were still deeply engraved in his mind.

How one could reach such a level of power was an enigma to the young trainer. Brendan's native difference might have been a factor in that formula. Perhaps he had been to several regions before meeting Sun, if he even existed at all.

"Alola is kind of small now," muttered the boy as he thought about the entire world.

Mindlessly, his eyes wandered around the room until he came upon a peculiar sight.

Some green slime was plastered against his wall. It was very circular in appearance with pointed tips at either end. Red dyed a hexagon in its center. The weirdest part was how it had two eyes, one smaller than the other and staring at Sun.

Widened eyes and curiosity alerted the creature to the boy's attention.

"What the-" The creature quickly vanished before he could say anything else.

Surprised, Sun got out of bed and inspected the wall. He patted the surface and noticed how it felt even and flat. The second time that he questioned the existence of something he saw and it still felt weird.

The thing also looked very familiar to him.

"Green and slimy...I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before," said the boy softly.

He instantly assumed that it was a Pokémon which led him to an interesting thought.

'Pokémon act differently during the night. Maybe Rotom and I could get some cool pictures.'

Sun's thought process was mandated by some guilt over his previous actions. Even so, he still couldn't pass up this opportunity.

Getting a change of clothes on and picking up his backpack, he left his room silently. He didn't grab any pokeballs on the way out. Bringing too many Pokemon might alert surrounding neighbors if he had to call upon them for a fight, and there was one person that Sun didn't want to notice about his late activity.

His mother may have been lenient on some things with her son, but bedtime on a weekday was not one of them.

'Just gotta get back fast and maybe she won't wake up,' thought the boy hopefully as he made it into the kitchen.

Hope turned to quick fear as he heard rustling coming from his mom's room. Sun froze up with fear at what punishment could befall him.

Luckily for the sneaky protagonist, she was just tossing around in the bedsheets while still asleep. A soft sigh signaled the boy's relief. He carefully opened the front door and left the house.

'It's definitely weird that I still listen to my mother but am the Champion,' thought the boy, even if he would never act upon that thought.

Sun walked up Route 1 and stopped when he felt that he was far away enough. Removing his backpack, he shook it up until Rotom popped out of it with some groggieness mixed with surprise.

"Sun? What izz it, buddy? Don't you know what time it izz?" Asked the somehow tired machine.

"I thought that this would be a good time to take some pictures." The boy was quick to the bottom line.

Beaming up with some enthusiasm, Rotom shook off its surprised and tired state. The Pokémon/machine turned on the camera and put up the interface for taking photos.

"Alright! Letzz do it!"

Sun smirked, grabbed his friend, and ventured out into the route. Looking at a nearby tree, they could see that a Pikkipek was soundly asleep. No sounds were made as the picture was taken a good ten feet away; the zoom function was very helpful.

An Alolan Rattata approached the tree because it had a pecha berry next to it. It sniffed the fruit for a few seconds before picking it up for a snack.

The normal/dark type had failed to notice either Sun or Rotom. Despite the distance and silence, the picture shot was still noticed by Rattata. It scurried away as it was noticed.

"These guys sure act differently during the night," noted Sun.

"Mm-hm."

Uploading the pictures did not warrant the same positive response as from Rotom initially. Most of the people online thought that the pictures looked good, but a good many said that the Pokémon in the pictures were too common.

"I guess Pikipek and Rattata are pretty common Pokémon," noted Sun with a bit of disappointment.

"Maybe we should go to a different route?" Inquired Rotom, who seemed eager to take more pictures.

Nodding, the black-haired boy accepted that it sounded like a good idea. He reached into his backpack for the Pokerider, but realized something important.

He didn't bring a single pokéball with him; Rotom was literally the only Pokémon with him at the moment.

"I guess we really can't," stated the boy with a sheepish grin.

"What? Why not?"

"Because if we went, I think you'd have to help me out against any Midnight Lycanroc."

Jolted, Rotom waved its appendages with another sheepish grin. Taking pictures of and registering Pokemon were his thing, not fighting with them. Sun chuckled at that gesture.

It was then that he noticed something, a distant sound that was familiar.

Crackling electricity mixed with crashing waves. Walking near the ledge of the route, Sun and Rotom could clearly see where the sound was coming from. An Alolan Raichu was skating across the water in the bay below.

"Wow, that guy zzure is going fazzt," noted Rotom.

"Yeah. It must be using some sort of electric speed attack."

Sun's guess wasn't too far from the truth. Raichu bent down and increased in speed using wild charge.

The presence of the Pokémon alone was strange given the time of night, so the fact that it was using wild charge was also very strange.

'He must be aiming at something...' The gray-eyed boy looked in the direction that Raichu was heading and noticed what he was charging towards.

An ice beam.

Having this projectile rapidly approach the psychic-electric type did nothing to slow it down. Instead, it slammed its tail down on the water, creating a wave that the beam hit.

Amazement was colored on Sun's face after bearing witness to that. Very rarely did a Pokémon learn how to do that in the wild.

Raichu's moment of vigor and swag was short lived, however. It slipped on its own tail (don't try to think about it too hard) and hit the water.

Splashing from the direction of the ice beam drew Sun's attention, and he saw somebody he wasn't expecting.

Hau was running over to the Raichu; it was his Pokémon and they were training.

No thoughts commanded Sun's actions, but he still ducked. Rotom saw this and was immediately curious with a tinge of disappointment.

"C'mon, man. I thought you got over thizz," said the Pokémon.

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard to start on your own with these kinds of things," admitted Sun with shame.

Of all the people Sun had encountered in Alola, Hau was definitely the nicest. The boy possessed some form of innocence that was only rivaled by Lillie's grace. His smiles managed to make everybody happier.

That's what made it so hard for Sun to face him. He had personally abandoned that smile and run away from it, not even glancing back.

All of this was because of his own emotions again.

"I do feel guilty, and it's just hard to face it." Speaking that did little to change what Rotom had said or its position on the matter.

"The best time is alwayzz now, you know."

How peculiar. The Champion of Alola was being given moral advice by a Pokémon inhabiting a device. Listening to it didn't seem like such a horrible idea.

Sun mustered up the willpower to face Hau while a pitiful grin appeared on his face.

...

Being sluggish in the morning was never something that anybody liked experiencing. If one was endured the night's challenges of ignoring sleep for a while, they paid a fair price for it.

Hau was doing that such thing. He awoke and moved his head to see that his clock, which had Alolan Exeggutors for the hands, read 10:34 AM.

"Man, I must've really needed that sleep," said the boy before yawning.

Urges from his parents and Hala would push him to get out of bed and do something productive with his day. People from Team Skull would likely come by soon and ask him for more lessons about a better lifestyle.

'I don't know why they keep doing that.'

In truth, the former people of Team Skull were inspired by Hau's philosophies after the Ultra Wormhole incident.

Helping them by scheduling wrestling matches was the best method that the boy could offer.

"Hopefully they won't bother me about that and I can practice with Grandpa," said Hau, oblivious to irony.

Karma must have been diligent and swift because a few knocks on the front door grabbed his attention. Sighing, the boy went over to the front door to open it, and his face burst with surprise at who was on the other side.

There was Sun, without a hat, bearing a sheepish grin.

"Hey Hau." It was obvious that the visitor was not prepared for this interaction.

"Sun!" The host quickly grabbed his visitor's shoulders.

Concern over possible anger overtook Sun; he still harbored some fear about facing his past. He wouldn't turn away now, though.

"Dude! I haven't seen you in forever, are you ok?!" Yelled Hau with blatant concern.

"Uh...it's only been a few days." Sun's retort was weak because he was still offset by this reaction.

Hau dislodged his hands from his friend's shoulders and placed them behind his head. "Yeah, but it feels like it's been a while."

The tone of that answer reassured Sun that his friend didn't harbor any resentment about the prior events. Guilt and hesitation were not gone, but they were lessened.

"Hau...I'm sorry about the other day," apologized Sun with some reluctance.

A dash of curiosity appeared on Hau because he was not expecting that.

"It's cool, but what were you so upset about? I just mentioned Lillie and you bolted."

Recounting the event that transpired a few days earlier didn't sit well with the main protagonist; it was always painful to pull up one's mistakes. If that wasn't bad enough, now he had to fully explain himself.

Truthfully, Sun was hoping that Hau would just accept the apology, and then they could move on with their day. Owning up to mistakes was harder than he initially imagined.

"Well...you see...I had some problems with Lillie," said Sun.

"Really? Did you two get into a fight or something?" Asked the native boy with sincere concern and intrigue.

"No, no! Nothing like that happened," explained Sun quickly.

"Then what was it?"

Taking a deep breath, the Alola Champion prepared to fully explain what transpired. However, he was quickly stopped when he realized something important.

Hau might have also had a crush on Lillie.

'That's right! He also wasn't happy when she was leaving,' thought Sun as he mentally reviewed the events of that night.

If he said that he had a crush on Lillie, it would possibly hurt Hau or make him angry. That would damage their friendship

All that built up resolve was now blown away by concern for the friendship he held with Hau. Innocence in the native boy's eyes didn't make it any easier for Sun. Now he needed to provide an answer for the situation he put himself in.

"Sun, why is talking about Lillie so hard for you?" Asked Hau with a little furrowing of his eyebrows.

'Ngh, why did I have to remember that?' Thought the Champion.

"I think I have the answer."

Sun jumped at the voice that came from right behind him, which he instantly recognized.

Hala stood behind him, merry and strong as ever.

"Grandpa! What do you mean?" Asked Hau with little attention towards the previous inquiry.

"Seems that you two need to have something worked out. I believe that a competition with Pokémon will help," proclaimed the kahuna.

While Sun had been itching to win a Pokémon battle since yesterday's embarrassing defeat, he couldn't bring himself to get his partners to help him out with this. Getting them to battle to vent out his stress was not appropriate to him.

Explaining his actions to his friend was something that the protagonist would need to accomplish on his own.

"No thank you. I don't want to make my Pokémon battle for something like this," answered Sun.

Hala erupted with laughter in response to Sun's answer. This perplexed the boy.

"I never said anything about a Pokémon battle!"

...

"Are we sure about this?"

"Yeah."

"Are we really sure about this?"

"Yeah, Grandpa never has any bad ideas before. Why would he have any now?"

Shooting a pair of surprised eyes the size of pokeballs, Sun pondered about the history that Hau had with his grandfather.

The boys were positioned atop the mountain of MeleMele Island. They sat on Tauros, who were eager and energetic, and faced out at a long track before them. Hala had gone through the effort to clear a long path for the boys.

Having both of the boys race was the Kahuna's idea to dissolve the inhibitions that Sun was experiencing. However, the black-haired boy felt like this was done for some ulterior motive, probably something to do with the island's entertainment.

'Tapu Koko better be watching.'

Despite the steep drop and long race ahead of him, Hau's face was painted with curiosity and energy; the boy rarely ever faltered in his jubilance.

On the other side of the island, Hala had gathered a crowd to witness the event. Everybody seemed interested in how this event would play out, evident by their gossiping. This was quickly brought to a halt by a raise of Hala's hand.

"And now, let the race," he closed his hand into a fist, "begin!"

The elderly man slammed his fist into a pump connected to a rocket, launching some fireworks and starting the race.

Hau and Sun could hear the projectiles as it screamed into the air.

"That must be the signal from Grandpa!" Noted the ponytailed boy.

Both Tauros saw the sign and immediately became hyperactive. Dust and rocks were kicked into the air as the two of them jumped off of the cliff.

Sun could feel a spark in his soul, and whatever he had for breakfast in his mouth. That spark was quickly snuffed out by the fear in his mind while he descended to the ground.

"I don't remember Tauros being this fast!" Yelled the boy as he and his ride landed.

Already they were at a difficult point as the racers landed. Route 3 was filled with twists and turns due to the giant rocks that dotted the road. Somehow, that didn't impede Hau's progression. He and his Tauros were already moving through it with ease.

'Uh-oh.' Sun still felt uneasy about this idea, but he didn't want to be left in the dust.

A kick on the sides, and his bull Pokémon exploded forward. The Alolan Champion provided the swift turns necessary to get through the maze of rocks, albeit slower than Hau's.

Little time elapsed before the competitors crossed into the next area, Route 5. Grass that accented the road were a clear sign of that. So was the wooden bridge that was ahead.

"Oh crap, is that thing gonna hold?!" Sun's fear blatantly showed.

His fears were quickly erased when he saw Hau's Tauros cross the bridge with no problems. Reassurance of the stability pushed him forward.

"Alright! Here we go!" Sun kicked on Tauros's sides some more, gaining more speed.

Charging through onto the bridge was definitely more challenging than originally intended. The structure was now bouncing around due to force from the first Tauros; Sun's didn't help to ease the vibrations.

'This. Is. Crazy!' The black haired boy was jerked around by the momentum of his ride and the bridge.

Once the insanity ended, they reached the other side. A sigh of relief blew out from the boy. Now, all that was ahead was a downhill run. It was certainly more calm than the last.

A sharp turn awaited at the bottom of the hill, Sun was quick to direct Tauros in the correct direction.

Now they ran through the Hau'oli City outskirts. For a brief moment, the Champion caught a glimpse of his house and wondered if his mother was watching the race.

Suddenly, he noticed Hau in front of him. That spark returned to the black haired boy. Nothing came into Sun's mind; he just knew that he had to win.

His Tauros sped up, ignited by his burst to win.

Hau caught sight of his quickly approaching opponent.

"Looks like you're catching up!" Said the cheerful boy half-tauntingly.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna win this!" Retorted Sun with vigor.

Time and space started to slow for the two as the winded flew by them.

Another quick turn, and they were running by the trainer school. It was to their right for only a few seconds.

Sun really couldn't explain it, why he felt so comfortable doing this. But he couldn't care less.

Hau'oli city was now within their sights, only 50 yards away. Or it was for 7 seconds.

A crowd had gathered to see what event Hala had going on. It must've been very important if he asked for the roads to be temporarily closed off. Many people had gathered to witness it, including Sun's mother with her Meowth.

Everything was being recorded by a Magnezone and displayed on television sets. Everybody could see the joyful race going on between Hau and Sun.

'Sun, he seems full of more energy now.' Thought Sun's mother as she watched the competition. 'What has he been through lately?'

In all honesty, she had been aware of her son's negative nature all along. Only recently had she noticed how far it was going. Initially, she saw that he was torn up about something after becoming a champion. She wanted to discuss it with him, yet she missed the chance to do so.

The healing transformation for him was quick, and he couldn't really explain what had happened to mend him; probably because he questioned the legitimacy of Brendan's existence.

Yet now, it seemed that her son was well recovered. All she could do is watch on and give him as much guidance as she could.

"I suppose I'll just have to talk to him later and cheer him on now. Right, Meowth?" The cat Pokémon nodded, affirming in her decision and Sun's positive nature.

It was no more prevalent than when he and Hau quickly appeared. The two boys were driving the Tauros faster than anyone else had done before.

Neck and neck, neither was willing to give in even a little bit.

"Eat my dust, Hau!"

"No thanks! I ate malasadas!" The pony-tailed boy yelled with vigor and joy, causing his friend to laugh against the wind.

20 meters from the finish line.

The boys were so close to each other.

15 meters from the finish line.

The sounds of hooves was blaring.

10 meters.

Air was practically slicing past them.

5 meters.

Teeth grit as the decisive moment came-

A zoom roared past the finish line, nobody could see exactly what had happened. Both Tauros slowed to a halt. Panting was all that could be heard from Hau and Sun. It appeared that the race literally drained them of a lot of energy.

"...'pant'...Who...'pant...won?" Asked Hau.

"...'pant'...I...'pant'...dunno."

The participants weren't the only ones unsure about the outcome, the audience was also devoid of a proper answer. All except one.

"Fear not! I saw who the winner was!" Everyone turned their attention towards Hala, who seemed full of energy. "My excellent eyesight doesn't fail me!"

"Are you sure about that, Grandpa?" Asked his grandson innocently. His grandfather fell over in response to that.

"Of course I did!" Yelled Hala in response before quickly regaining his composure.

Silence hushed the crowd has the Kahuna stared with his seemingly closed eyes. He walked over to the two boys and raised both hands. Sun interpreted this as the elder being more serious than was actually necessary.

Then, Hala lowered his hand.

"Sun is the victor."

The crowd erupted into a cheer; perhaps the rivalry and vigor between the two boys had sparked interest and fanaticism in them. In the crowd, Mrs. Mikazuki appeared very proud of her son.

'I only hope that this further cheers Sun up,' thought the woman as she and her Meowth cheered for him.

Sun obviously was very relieved because he needed some form of a victory after yesterday's defeat. his vision shifted over to his friend.

Despite losing the match, Hau seemed just as happy as ever. It was always the same with that boy. No matter how badly he lost, he just wanted to have fun with his friends. An attitude like that was something that every friend should hold.

Ironically, it was an attitude that Sun was envious of.

Surprisingly, there was little effort required to remove the decorations for the event. Hala lifted up big objects as if he was in his prime.

"Wow, your grandpa is really strong," noted Sun as he watched the old man easily pick up a barrier that was three times his size.

"Yeah. He's super strong!" Hau's oblivious cheerfulness was a good compliment to Sun's awe.

The Kahuna casually walked over while still carrying the barrier.

"You boys did fantastic. We should definitely do this again," proclaimed Hala.

"Sure thing. It was really fun," said Sun, discarding his awestruck state.

Tauros races were certainly common in Alola; the bull was a common way for the people to get around. However, it had never been done before at the distance that Sun and Hau displayed or with such intensity between two racers.

"Maybe next time we should have more people? It's probably a little boring with just me and Hau," suggested the Champion.

"I dunno." Sun and Hala turned to Hau, who was looking to the sky and stroking his chin. The oblivious state of joy had been lost. "Putting more Tauros on the road doesn't sound that exciting."

Observing this behavior felt awkward for Sun. It was rare to ever see Hau break out of his jolly state.

"Well, what do you think we should do next time?" Inquired the Champion.

"What if we decided to race with our own Pokémon...while holding...pancakes!" The boy quickly returned to his regular behavior.

Silence fell after that. It was as if somebody had just cursed the Tapus, except this was focusing on something more impractical.

"Haha!"

Laughter had burst out from Sun. He was on his knees laughing; so much so that his cheek bones started to hurt. Now it was Hau's turn to awkwardly observe his friend's behavior.

Hala, too, was laughing at such an absurdly amusing idea. This grandson of his could be so innocent and hilarious.

'No wonder those people from Team Skull look to him for advice.'

The Kahuna decided to continue with deconstructing the event, leaving Hau and Sun by themselves.

"By the way, didn't you have something that you wanted to talk about?" Asked Hau. Sun stiffened a little when he instantly remembered. "Something about Lillie, right?"

There was that reluctance again, fear for his friend's feelings. But this time was different. More calmness and understanding was circulating around Sun's mind and soul. He knew fully that this person was his friend first and enemy last.

With a deep sigh, he began his explanation.

"Yeah, there is a reason why I was acting up after Lillie left," said the black-haired boy.

"What was it?"

"Well, I...had a crush on her. I was really torn up when she was gone." His explanation was slow in delivery, indicating that it was still a little difficult to talk about.

The speed of the explanation did little to affect its impact on Hau, who now had eyes the size of Miniors.

"R-really? You liked her that much?" Asked the baffled boy.

A nervous expression spread across Sun's face in response to seeing Hau's. He was getting closer to an emotional conflict between his best friend.

Despite that, he still needed to be honest.

A nod confirmed what Hau had questioned.

"I just didn't want to let her not live her dreams." Now it was hard for Sun to face his friend at all. "That's why I didn't try to stop her when she left. Hau, I know you might like her a lot, too, but I can't let go of how I feel."

Gravity of the situation intensified as a heavy silence fell. The emotion on Hau's face only grew more surprised as Sun's grew more distraught.

Understanding that this could lead to a nasty argument, the latter prepared himself for the worst.

"Sun, I don't have a crush on Lillie. Who told you that I did?"

Surprise exploded on Sun's face.

"What? But you were so upset when she left!"

"Well, she's my friend. I would do the same thing if you left." Explained Hau.

All that pent up worry and frustration now literally meant nothing. It was a novelty for Sun to experience this kind of free relief. The answer to this predicament was always in front of him, he just couldn't see it.

Few people in Alola supported and believed in him like Hau did. The bond they shared was one of enjoyment and rivalry. Even if they both cherished the same girl, neither would bring themselves to truly hate the other. All the events that Sun experienced with Hau made them good rivals and even better friends.

When they first got their starter Pokémon.

The many times they battled together.

Teaming up to save their friends and prove their bonds.

Sun's worry had robbed him of precious time with friends again, but now he could make up for it. He sighed before falling over and laughing.

"You're not going crazy, are you?" Questioned Hau with a hint of humor.

"No, I just feel like an idiot." The Champion pushed himself off of the ground. "You're a good friend, Hau. Sorry for making you worry."

As an appropriate answer, the native boy cracked a grin and placed his hands behind his head.

"Hey, you're a good friend to me too."

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, hope you liked it. If you have anything to say, then please leave a review (but keep it clean). Sorry for the long time it took to write this, but I've been playing tons of Dark Souls 3, building competitive Pokémon in Moon, and trying to stay healthy.


	8. A step to self

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Otherwise we would have put the national pokedex into Sun and Moon by now! Have I already said that one before? I don't care! It has been 8 months. EIGHT, THAT'S OVER HALF A YEAR! I want some form of a reward for collecting all of the...wait, that was all typed down, wasn't it?

Love you, Gamefreak!

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Getting children to eat their vegetables and fruits was always something of an arduous duty for many parents. Somehow Sun's mother, Sakura Mikazuki, didn't share in that inquiry. If anything, her child loved the taste of vegetables after a long day.

Which was why she was making him a special dinner to celebrate his hard work. The boy's drool over sautéed mushrooms was evidence of this.

"How was Mount Lanakila today?" Asked Mrs. Mikazuki.

"It was a little busy. Mr. Moe came up to challenge me today for the Champion title," answered Sun in between mushrooms.

Looking back on that battle made the boy realize how powerful Moe really was. Who would have guessed that he had trained a Metagross? Adding him on top of all the other people who had shown up to challenge Sun and his responsibilities were beginning to become more strenuous.

"Sounds like the job is a lot. Maybe you and Hau should do some more training together," suggested Sakura.

"Yeah. I should definitely do that. My friends did support for me to become the Champion."

Although his statement was meant to be positive, Sun could clearly see that his mother now had a more serious expression.

"Speaking of your friends, are you sure that everything is ok?" Her tone also dropped from its happy state.

"Uh, yes. Hau and I are doing just fine now. I probably should try to hang out with Gladion more." His answer didn't meet what his mother wanted to talk about.

"Sun, are you comfortable talking about Lillie?"

A dart of pain briefly shot through the boy. Simply hearing that question spelled out that his mom knew about his problems. However, he knew that talking would help, whether or not it was easy.

"Yes. I'm ok with talking about her," answered the son with a hint of reluctance. This didn't go unnoticed by his mother.

"You really like her, don't you? More than how much you like Hau?" He nodded slowly before putting up a pitiful smile.

This emotional response had become less of anger and more of mockery towards his past self. Sun was happy that he had gotten past himself and could properly understand his own feelings and role.

"I've noticed that you were different for a while, but I did nothing to act on it. I'm sorry about that, sweetie," apologized his mother.

"No, it's ok. Maybe it was better that you didn't do anything. I ran away from Hau and yelled at Professor Kukui. It hurts even more now that I think about it."

Regret settled in as the boy reflected on his past actions. By no means had he forgotten the important lesson that set him on the right path, but he was a kind person at heart; letting go of the wrongs he did was somewhat arduous. His friends and family were very important to him.

Speaking of which, he probably owed an explanation to his mother.

"But I am doing better now," admitted Sun. His statement did very little to convince his mother otherwise.

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about this." Her expression wilted with concern.

Hastily, Sun put up a grin and pointed to his cheeks in an effort to convince his mother. This also failed in getting his message across.

"I just want you to be alright. Perhaps we should take you to a psychologist?" That suggestion was healthy and just, despite the lack of available contacts for it.

"No, it's ok. I actually ran into somebody the other day." The over-attempted grin lessened to be more natural. "He and his Pokémon beat some sense in me in a Pokémon battle."

A perked eyebrow from Mrs. Mikazuki showed interest. Who in the entire region of Alola could stand up to their first Champion?

"Did he say who he was?"

Suddenly, as if by convenience of writing plot, Sun could not recall the name of the trainer whom he had met. Only memories about his attire, attitude, Pokémon, and skill remained as the legitimacy of his existence.

"I can't remember. He left so suddenly that I'm not even sure he was really there. But Professor Kukui came by soon after and showed me something in Lillie's diary. I think that really helped me."

The perked eyebrow became furrowed, displaying the disapproval of his mother. "You're sure that you don't feel so down right now?"

"Yeah, Mom. I promise that I'll come to you if something wrong happens again," stated the son very quickly.

Enthusiasm and honesty brimming in the young boy's eyes convinced his mother of his reformation.

Sakura could only sigh with a smile. The thrill of adventure and battle always grabbed her son, whether or not she liked it.

Knowing that he had gone to an alternate dimension, battled with what was considered gods, and become the strongest trainer in the region provided enough proof. He would always come back.

"Alright." She got up from the table and hugged her son. "Just come back. Like you always do."

Initially, Sun was a little surprised. But he discarded that quickly, knowing that he had another person who loved him so much.

"Thanks, Mom. I promise I will."

...

People were habitual creatures; once a desirable action was found, they would take repetitious action as often as possible. This mostly included revisiting the same restaurant or watching the same television show repeatedly.

For Mallow, this habit was collecting ingredients for more dishes.

"These truffles will make a great salad," noted the chef as she bent down to the ground.

Beside Mallow was her Tsareena, who was keeping watch for any Pokémon. The inhabitants of the Lush Jungle easily become interested in the food that their captain prepared. In particular, Tsareena was watching out for the giant Lurantis.

"You know, you are a little on edge," said Mallow to her Pokémon. "Everything will be fine."

"That's what you said when you made that omelet." Mallow swerved around to see Kiawe accompanied by Olivia.

Although this was something of a surprise, the young chef paid no heed to it. She jumped up and clapped her hands together. Seeing her friends was always a pleasant surprise to her.

"Aw come on. That was my first time with an omelet," insisted Mallow. "I'm sure that you'll like it next time."

A shiver ran down Kiawe's spine at his fellow captain's promise. She may've been a talented cook, but even the best can end up making mistakes. Being on another island at the time Mallow would try to make another omelet was on Kiawe's agenda then.

Olivia giggled a little at the interactions between the two Trial Captains. However, she quickly discarded that. Another matter had come up and required her attention.

"Mallow, have you noticed Tapu Lele around here lately?" Asked the Kahuna.

Each Tapu had a different personality. Whereas Tapu Koko was a fickle creature, only appearing when necessary, Tapu Lele had a penchant for floating around its island frequently. Everyone knew of this behavior and many had seen it as well.

Placing a finger on her chin, Mallow dug through her memory for the answer.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her lately," answered the green-haired girl.

"This place too?"

"I guess she really has been doing only that one thing." Olivia's expression grew deeper with gravity.

Bearing witness to this change caused Mallow to discard her playful nature. Seeing one of the strongest trainers on the island like this easily drew others in.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Mallow.

"Well, Tapu Lele has not been coming out during the day and just stares at the moon throughout the night."

Such a behavior was odd for a Tapu to exhibit. Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu were known for their secluded lifestyles, but even they would not indulge in the same activity for so long.

'That is very odd. Why would Tapu Lele just do that all night?' Thought Mallow. It was then that Kiawe brought up a very interesting point.

"Do you think Sun could have something to do with this?"

Olivia took that into consideration. The idea that Sun would attract the attention of legendary Pokémon, albeit inadvertently, was not completely implausible.

"Maybe, he is the trainer of the Moone Pokémon," noted Olivia.

"Sun would never do anything bad!" Said Mallow quickly.

Shock spread on everyone's faces after that statement. Mallow was usually spoke with composure or humor, very rarely did she have an outburst like that. The conversation needed to continue, however.

"We're not saying that he would do something evil, but that he might have some relation to this strange event," reassured Olivia.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mallow accepted the logic that she was presented with. She would need to work on her image after that.

"You were a little quick to defend him," said Kiawe.

The red that spread across Mallow's face contrasted perfectly with her hair and eyes. Her head quickly spun around to her Tsareena, perhaps she could help out.

Very little help was offered. Tsareena had little to no relation to the argument at hand. The Trial Captain would have to get herself out of this one.

"W-well...he's just a very good friend to me is all!" Argued the green-haired girl.

Olivia remained unconvinced of the young girl's statement. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Steaming, Mallow marched off in the opposite direction.

"Whatever. I'll tell you if I see Tapu Lele." Even with some anger mixed into her, Mallow couldn't bring herself to do mean things to her friends.

The reaction to her friends' accusation was unprecedented and without much thought. That much she had to admit to. However, agreeing with the idea that she bore feelings for Sun was still a challenge.

'I just don't want him to have to go through a lot of stress again.'

...

"Null, use crunch!"

"Type: Null, use crush claw!"

People who had come to Malie Garden to enjoy tranquility and good food were treated to something else entirely. The first Champion of Alola and the President of the Aether Foundation were having a 1-on-1 Pokémon battle.

Only one person in the scene was bearing a dull expression at all of this.

'Why did these boys ask me to ref?' Nanu's natural behavior went in the face of the battle spirits of Sun and Gladion.

The helmed Pokémon tried to swipe its evolved opponent, only to miss and get a painful attack.

"Oh, come on!" Yelled Sun with some frustration.

"Don't whine about that being unfair," retorted Gladion. His opponent had trouble seeing it as fair.

Type: Null evolved into Sivally, so it was only natural that one would have an advantage.

"Mulit-attack!"

"Dragon claw!"

Silvally scraped up against the ground with orange streaked claws while its counterpart only stood idly. Type: Null was knocked up into the air before landing down onto the ground with little stamina left.

"Come on, how-oh right." Sun wanted to complain about how unfair that was, but he realized the mistake.

Sighing, Nanu raised up his arms. "Alright, boys. Why don't we take a break?"

Sun nodded to that suggestion, little chance of victory was left. He went over to Type: Null and found that a void still occupied the eyes of his Synthetic Pokémon.

"I don't understand, Null always responded to me," noted Gladion. "Perhaps this one is having trouble hearing you?"

"It's not that. This Pokémon only responds to the name, Type: Null." It turned its head at the sound of that name. "No, I wasn't ordering you."

Gladion scratched his head, accepting the logic that somehow bypassed him.

Concluding the match signaled the end of entertainment for the public. People left the area or returned to their regular business. Surprisingly, nobody approached the two trainers or the island Kahuna.

"That's weird. I thought that they would run over here for sure to ask us for autographs," noted the Champion.

"Well, they're either scared of your Pokémon or Gladion," answered Nanu, to which the blonde boy turned away.

Sun stared curiously at Gladion. He still held some tiny resentment towards him, but there wasn't much reason for the other people to.

"The Aether Foundation has a sketchy track record and people still remember me for being a member of Team Skull," explained the green-eyed boy when he detected that curious gaze without looking.

"That makes some sense." The black-haired boy could tell that Gladion's current attire, what he used to wear as a member of Team Skull, didn't help his image.

However, black and red clothing did very little to intimidate his Pokémon. The boy's Sivally always seemed so close and friendly to it. Even in its previous state, it still showed some level of affection for Gladion.

A little envy welled up inside Sun as he compared his progress with Gladion's.

"Say, how long have you known your Pokémon?" Asked Sun.

Gladion thought for a few moments about that, it was a long, winding road concerning his family and their problems.

"It was about a year before I met you that Null and I left the Aether Paradise," answered the blonde boy.

"Wow, so you two have been together for a while," noted Sun with some awe; he hadn't even known Manny for that long.

Oblivious to a certain fact, Sun continued to ponder how he could create a much better bond with his Type: Null.

Luckily for him, Nanu caught onto that fact.

"You keep calling your Pokémon Null, right?" Asked the Kahuna to the blonde boy.

"Yeah. I felt like calling him Type: Null was too cruel to him," explained Gladion.

Truth bulldozed the Alola Champion when he heard that fact. It was so obvious. All of his Pokémon had nicknames and bonded well with him. Lillie and Nebby must have also held a strong bond because she named it Nebby.

"So if I just give my Type: Null a name, it should be much easier to bond with," stated Sun.

"I can't say. Not everyone bonds the same," said Nanu, referencing how he bonds with his Alolan Meowths.

"Not really sure what I can name him, though."

"Well, Type: Null is a Pokémon designed to be any type. Giving it a name would be a little difficult," noted Gladion.

Calling this one Null would become confusing very quickly. It was also in Sun's preferences to be creative with naming his Pokémon. Naming a creature that wasn't really ever meant to have a personality or a base typing made this a little difficult.

In the end, Type: Null looked like nobody but himself.

'C'mon, there's nothing that can I base him on?' Questioned the slightly frustrated trainer. 'Nobody at all?'

Suddenly, a notion of creativity hit him. Sun looked his Pokémon in the eye with some confidence.

"Listen, I know you are only doing what you were told to do." A silent stare was his only reply. "But you can do so much more than just that. You look like nobody else but yourself. So I'll name you Bod."

Tilting its head back, the newly named creature displayed slight surprise. This was temporary, though.

'Well, it's something even if it's small,' thought Sun.

Regardless of that fact, Sun wanted to strengthen the start of this new bond. He extended his hand out to shake as if Bod was a Rockruff or Herdier.

"You're trying to shake hands with your Type: Null?" Asked Gladion with a little confusion.

Some miniscule anger pinged in Sun, but he quickly discarded it. "It's like Mr. Nanu said, not everyone bonds the same."

A quick smirk appeared on the Kahuna's face, apparently they did listen to him.

Bod analyzed this offer, unsure of how to respond. All that it ever knew was how to battle and destroy others. Thus far, it had failed in that mission twice. Some shame and possibly anger came naturally, but they didn't last long.

The offering of a name, promise of more potential to be unlocked, and extended hand were all new to it. All of this birthed a new sensation in its cold being.

Warmth.

Bod's green fore limb extended to Sun's hand, the two shook.

"Alright! Now we're friends!" Cheered the trainer with much enthusiasm.

Ironically, the Synthetic Pokémon returned to being blank and neutral in response to that. Sun could only bear an expression of bafflement.

"You ruined the moment," said Nanu blatantly.

"Oh, come on! I was trying to be nice!" Retorted the Champion quickly.

"It might have been better if you were much more modest. You might want to work on that," suggested Gladion. He received support from his nodding Silvally.

Irritated, Sun turned away quickly. His source of frustration could easily interpret the reaction, but he felt little need to actually recognize that. The fire between the two was easily to observe.

Nanu sighed in exhaustion. "Why don't we give this a rest for now?"

"I suppose so. This is starting to get annoying." Arrogance was starting to return to the blonde boy.

"Of course you'd think that. We should battle at least once more." Suggested Sun, turning around with his index finger pointed out.

"You do realize how that will turn out, right?"

"No. And you don't either."

Both boys were now glaring at each other. Only the threat of Ultra Beasts could get these two to cooperate. A Pokémon battle was likely the best solution to diffuse the tension.

"Fine, let's do one more match. But let's make it quick," announced Nanu as the referee.

"Why? Do you have somewhere you need to go to?" Asked Sun innocently.

"No, but both of you are annoying right now," answered the old man blatantly.

"Hey!" Yelled both Gladion and Sun at the same time, much to each's surprise.

The oddly timed response did very little to catch Nanu's attention; he always spoke his mind about everything.

Separating themselves, the boys aimed to heal their Pokemon for the last match. Silvally's expression towards Gladion was one caught between awe and curiosity. Something like that didn't go unnoticed.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Suggested the blonde boy. "But you don't need to worry; you're still miles above what Sun and his Type: Null are."

Sun glanced over to Gladion in the middle of healing Bod because he could vaguely hear his name. Some of that frustration was coming back.

Several times the boys had teamed up to reach a certain goal. This meeting was only done to reach the goal of giving a life to the second Type: Null that was discovered.

'But he is still so impossible,' thought Sun.

There was no doubt in the Champion's mind, Gladion viewed him as an asset first and a friend a far third.

'I can't be friends with somebody like that.' As that thought crossed his mind, another one spawned from the trail. 'What would Lillie think about that?'

Gladion cared for very little and his younger sister was amongst that few. Being in a relationship with her would undoubtedly bring tension between Sun and her brother.

'But I can endure that. I really want to be with Lillie,' assured Sun. Her graceful appearance and kind nature made her an angel to gaze upon for all eternity. That and her considerate nature about the well-being of others made her worth any obstacle to Sun.

Suddenly, something dawned onto Sun. His vision shifted to Bod, who was patiently taking the potion. A warm smile appeared on the gray-eyed boy, and he patted the helmet of his Pokemon.

A little curiosity was naturally produced. "I just realized something very good."

With both normal-type Pokemon fully recovered, the trainers took their positions on the opposite sides of the supposed arena.

Nanu raised his hands up with little enthusiasm and much less effort.

"And…go."

"Crunch!"

"Bod, use crush claw!"

Trainers and Pokemon took up the role of igniting the scene with vigor.

Silvally leapt forward with its jaw wide open, but was momentarily hindered when Bod grabbed its right front leg and crushed.

'That won't be enough,' thought Sun quickly. His observation was valid as the evolved Pokemon chomped down on its predecessor's head.

Each landed sufficiently damaging attacks, but it was obvious who had dealt more damage.

Having taken the attack to the head, despite wearing a helmet, caused Bod to stumble.

"Bod, use aerial ace!" Said Sun. His Pokémon charged forth and slashed downwards with the edge of its helmet. Unfortunately, this did little to damage Silvally.

'Crap, I thought that Gladion was gonna make his Pokémon move.' Since aerial ace couldn't miss, that strategy would have been foiled.

But Gladion didn't follow that. He was well aware of the difference in power that his Sivally held over Bod.

"Null, use swords dance," commanded Gladion with almost as little enthusiasm as the referee.

A twitch of the eyebrow displayed more of Sun's poor opinion of his opponent, but he sighed as he conjured a plan.

"Bod, use swords dance too!" Said the boy seriously.

Taking a modest stance, the Pokemon waved their heads around like knights aiming their swords to the sky.

"Are you trying to copy us?" Inquired the blonde boy.

"Maybe." The tone of Sun's voice relaxed.

Gladion perked an eyebrow as a response. The odds were clearly stacked against Sun, but he remained hopeful and confident.

"Null, use multi-attack!" Silvally jumped up to deliver what would be the finishing blow.

Being content with a conclusion like that was not in Sun's plan.

"Bod, jump!" The Synthetic Pokemon jumped as well. The distance was not as great as its sibling, but the distance would soon be closed. "Iron head!"

As Silvally prepared to swipe again, it was met with a potent blow to the chest as Bod shoved its helmet forward.

Unfortunately, little hindrance was posed to the former and multi-attack connected with Bod.

Both normal type Pokemon crashed to the ground with only Silvally getting back on all fours. Nanu nonchalantly raised his hand towards Gladion.

"Gladion and Silvally win again."

Rushing over, Sun helped his Pokemon up. Some tiny traces of sorrow were present in its expression.

"Hey, you did great." Very little change took place in the Pokemon's mindset, but it was still something.

"That was a pretty bold move," said Gladion as he walked over.

The blonde boy bore the same neutral expression, but Sun found it in himself to look past that.

"Well, I still need to get used to battling with Bod." He stood up, confidence shining in his expression. "I'm sure that we'll catch to you guys soon enough."

A flip of the hair and turn of the head displayed Gladion's disapproval. "I doubt that'll happen."

Sun folded his arms behind his head and turned around.

"You're just scared that I'm a better trainer than you," retorted the boy. The behavior he was displaying was one very similar to Hau. Now it was Gladion who was starting to become frustrated.

"What's with you? You're being very cheery despite losing the match," noted the blonde boy.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sun kept his behavior the same. "I just want to be better friends with you."

Sighing, Gladion introduced his palm to his face. There were so many people who were annoying for him to be around. Sun and Hau were somewhere around the top of that list, regardless of their skills as trainers.

Having to deal with what felt like both of them at the same time was very frustrating. Despite that, Gladion still held his composure.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but I don't have much for friends. Gotta search for more power to protect the world."

Although the boy was preaching the original and honest philosophy of the Aether Foundation, it did little to alter Sun's stance on things.

Ironically, this gave Sun a more positive image of Gladion.

"That's not true. You've always got time to be with friends."

"Yeah? Prove it."

No modest response or long explanation was presented at all. The argument from the Champion was presented by a simple glance. Curious, Gladion followed the line of sight towards his own Pokémon.

Noticing this odd action, Silvally looked over to its trainer. It could only receive the exact odd stare reflected at it.

"Null?" Asked Gladion as he turned back to Sun.

With a nod, Sun started to explain himself further. "You saved this Pokémon because you felt sorry for it. Null obviously likes you a lot. So I'm convinced that you are actually a friendly guy."

There was little to nothing that Gladion could offer as a rebuttal. Previous research on Type: Null, back when it was called Type: Full, presented the ultimate conclusion that this was a Pokémon that could not simply be trained to be a powerful being. Pure science gave little privilege to the idea of friendship as power.

Gladion was the very first person to ever see a true Silvally and even name it. That would prove that he was a friendly type at his core.

"Alright, so maybe you're right about that. But I'm still busy with the Aether Foundation," argued the blonde boy.

Ever patient and happy, Sun just shrugged his shoulders again. "We don't have to meet up all the time. Let's at least say we're friends."

Seeing this honest interest in bonding was very odd. Gladion knew that Sun didn't have the highest opinion of him, so this was very peculiar. It was something very similar to another caring person that he had seen before.

'Just like when Lillie went out of her way for Lusamine.'

The efforts Sun had placed cracked through the tough exterior that Gladion held.

"Alright. But don't get too full of yourself just because I'm saying that you are my friend."

"I won't," promised the black-haired boy. "By the way, Hau is gonna start calling himself your friend too."

Humorous irritation dictated Gladion's follow up as he sighed and chuckled. Such a thing was very likely to happen regardless of his answer to Sun.

"That was gonna happen anyway, wasn't it?"

"Yep. Who knows? Maybe one day you and I will be brothers."

Immediately losing all of his composure, Gladion did a double take at his newly proclaimed friend.

"Wait! What?!"

Sun could not bring himself to answer that at all, he was paralyzed with laughter. He had found his way past distrust, gained a new friend, and even managed to get a good reaction out of him.

Part of his mind thought that perhaps that was another trait of being the Champion, befriending those of the region.

...

Several days had passed since Sun and Gladion became friends. Their agreement remained intact, the latter of the two was too busy with work to hang out. They both remained content stating that they were friends and aiding the other when it was really necessary.

Sun was currently occupied with the task of getting groceries for his mother. Although he enjoyed getting to eat vegetables, buying them was a different matter altogether.

'Why don't we have some machine that tells me how fresh they are,' thought the boy.

It as a common experience to try something and find that it didn't taste as good as before. Getting his Pokémon to help wasn't too bad of an idea, but there were detriments to each of them.

Manny would probably burn the food, Charlie would preemptively eat it, Maggie and Bod lacked noses, Wawi struggled to stay above water without causing trouble, people would be terrified of Mimi, and they would storm around Nebby.

"Gonna have to do this on my own," stated Sun as he picked up a head of lettuce and sniffed it.

A decent smell lingered atop the vegetable. He hoped that it would stay that way. Next was the cucumbers that were conveniently placed to the right of the lettuce bin.

"Excuse me, could you pass me one of those cucumbers?" Asked a feminine voice to Sun's left.

"Yeah, here you go." He casually passed it over.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The boy's eyes popped out before swerving around to see a familiar face. Brendan was standing with the blonde girl who asked for the vegetable. He alsp took notice of the odd occurrence.

"Oh, Sun. What's up?"

"IT'S YOU! YOU'RE REAL!"

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry that it took so long. There's not gonna be much more in the way of chapters for this fanfiction.

Also, I do realize that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have been announced. I started writing this chapter before that announcement was made. That's why the beginning of this chapter starts off with a rant.

Anyway, please favorite or follow. If you have anything that you want to say about this chapter, then please leave a review.


	9. A bigger world

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Otherwise, I'd protest about the plot of the upcoming movie.

"Speech"

'Thought'

* * *

Sun understood that his attitude had been somewhat erratic and rude. However, him screaming, looking like a inmate from Arkham, and pointing his finger towards another guy were not easy to predict.

His strained expression didn't help him out either.

"Uh, yeah. I'm real." The blonde girl turned her head between the two boys.

"You've met him before?" Inquired her.

"Yeah, he's the Champion here," answered Brendan.

Turning around, the girl displayed much surprise at this revelation. Her surprised expression ironically lessened Sun's.

Having the chance to calm down and examine this girl closer presented the Alolan Champion with an interesting fact.

"Hey, didn't I run into you the other day?" Asked the black-haired boy to the blonde girl.

A curious expression painted itself across the girl's face. Her head tilted as she dug through her memory. Something clicked in her mind and she snapped her fingers.

"Yeah, I remember you," said the girl. "I'm sorry, but I didn't recognize you because of your clothes."

"It's ok." Sun's reassurance came with the memory of his attire at that interaction. It had been sitting in his dresser ever since. Probably better left there.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Erica Tamashii." She extended out her hand for Sun to shake.

There was little difficulty in accepting that offer. If anything, it was nice for Sun to interact with someone who was not from Alola. The way she and Brendan dressed clearly displayed that they were not from the tropical region.

Lillie and her family were likely from a different region as well. Considering this fact started to paint Alola as a cultural mixing pot rather than its own distinct region.

"So what was up with you the other day?" Asked Sun as he turned his attention to Brendan. "You just left without saying anything. I thought that you were just a figment of my imagination."

"You thought I was a fruit snack?" Asked the older boy.

That one response was enough to make Sun's mind stop. He was certain that he didn't say that. Erica, however, remained unfazed by this; she casually turned over to Brendan.

"Come on. You know that's not what he meant. Figment, not fig." Brendan slammed his fist into his hand after hearing that.

"Sorry, I'm not good with big words," apologized Brendan.

Sun, still baffled by this reaction, was starting to feel more like a native resident of Alola; people from different regions could be really weird. Brendan scratched the back of his head as he began to explain.

"I really wasn't supposed to battle you. I was supposed to be looking around for a Pokémon called Tapu Lele," said the brunette.

Erica shot him a piercing look. "You also wanted to battle him, didn't you?"

A small jolt revealed that she was on point. Brendan looked away sheepishly before answering. "Well, maybe just a little."

After regaining his composure, Sun felt it necessary to vouch for Brendan. He never did get an opportunity to thank him. Life had become a lot easier after that match.

"It's ok. I really needed somebody to help me out." Curiosity then drew Sun to a different fact which he missed. "Wait, why are you guys looking for Tapu Lele?"

Suddenly, the warm and friendly expressions of Brendan and Erica were weighed down. Mentioning the name of one of the Tapu's obviously pinched some nerve.

Facing each other, the nodded slowly before glancing around the area. The market was actually devoid of a crowd. Even the vendors seemed distracted.

"What do you think?"

"It's still a little too many," stated Erica softly with resolve.

Brendan nodded before leaning close to Sun. This action was very unnerving for the young boy, very different from things he had handled before.

"We can tell you, but it'll have to be somewhere else." The statement came out potently tinged and lacking humor.

Somehow, in the recesses of his mind, Sun could detect the demand in that tone. Brendan had already proven his skill and power before so saying no didn't feel like much of an opportunity.

'But what if they are trying to steal Pokémon?' That same power that he saw could easily overpower the Tapus.

Frozen with fear of saying no, the Champion of Alola nodded. Brendan's face relaxed and he backed off.

"Alright. Where can we go with no people around?" Asked the older brunette.

"We can try...Ten Carat Hill," suggested the younger boy.

Question marks appeared above Brendan and Erica when he said that. They really were tourists.

"It's on another island. I can take you there," said Sun, whose offer was accepted.

Although he was leading this interaction at the moment, the boy felt like he was still being controlled. These people were searching for legendary Pokémon and had the skills to capture them. Of course this was nothing new in Sun's life.

'Lusamine was after the Ultra Beasts and Nebby,' thought the young trainer. 'But she was just crazy.'

An air of professionalism and tenacity surrounded Brendan and Erica. Leading them to Ten Carat Hill was a relatively safe option, though.

If anything went wrong, Kukui was no doubt close. The combination of Professor Kukui and Champion Sun would definitely work out far better than the Champion on his own.

Sun grabbed Nebby's pokeball and shoved it into his pocket before either Brendan or Erica could spot it.

'I won't let anyone take you. I promise.'

Getting to Ten Carat Hill took some time because of how well hidden the area was. Many people would not bother going into the mountainous area because they would be to distracted by the beach or didn't have the willpower to break the boulders blocking the path.

Seeing the impediment gave Sun a little bit of relief.

'Maybe they'll just give up? I don't think they have a Pokerider.'

"You sure it's in there?" Asked Brendan, which Sun nodded to.

"Yeah. I forgot to tell you that these rocks fall off the mountain everyday." That was a lie. In all honesty, Sun had no idea where those came from.

"Alright, I got it."

Some notable surprise came to Sun when Brendan said that. The older brunette walked over to the boulders and picked them up one at a time, tossing them a few feet away. Those rocks were about 3 feet in diameter on average.

Remembering the events from their last encounter reminded Sun how strong Brendan was, but this was absolutely absurd. Even more crazier than that was Erica's reaction or lack there of.

The blonde girl just casually stood to the side, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Uh." Erica turned to the younger Champion. "Does that happen a lot?"

"Yeah. You don't see that a lot too?" Questioned the girl.

Although Hala and Kukui displayed great feats of strength, they were adults. Brendan looked to be in his late teens with even more muscular power.

"N-not really." Sun began to realize that Brendan now held even more power over him.

After the boulders were cleared, they traversed through the caverns to the other side of the cave. A quick flash of the scenery reminded Sun of what happened the last time he was there.

'It doesn't look like that Pokémon is anywhere nearby,' thought the boy as he analyzed the surroundings.

"It looks really calm here," noted Erica as she gazed over the scenery. Brendan followed her gaze and couldn't deny that she was right.

Without any attention, Sun had to reassure himself one more time. It was ironic. The person he was afraid of was also the one who taught him what it truly meant to be a Champion of a region. Disparity between friend and foe was very hard to see.

'It's been like that a lot lately.' thought Sun. 'So many people who were probably evil have turned over a new leaf. Were they even evil at all? Only Lusamine seemed like she was trying to hurt people.'

Learning that the former President's actions were not of her own volition created a more sympathetic view of her. Sun chuckled a little as he recalled her 'hired help'.

'I guess even they weren't evil either. Team Skull was more funny than mean.'

The grunts were goofy and hilarious, Plumeria was there to keep everyone together like a mother, Gladion was trying to find a way to keep all Pokémon safe, and Guzma just wanted to be recognized.

Now they turned from their ways of doing evil, the Aether Foundation fully devoted themselves to helping Pokémon without hurting any, Gladion was able to find his way, and Lillie could stand up to her mother.

Everything seemed to change because of Sun and his Pokémon; that gave him what he needed. He took a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Alright, I can do this," whispered the boy.

"Ok. I was wondering if you could handle it."

Quickly, Sun snapped back to reality. It must have been very awkward for how long he spaced out like that.

Erica stepped forward to begin the explanation.

"You are aware that other regions have legendary Pokémon, right?" Inquired the girl, to which Sun lightly nodded.

"I think that's right. I've heard about some from different places." Erica nodded to confirm, her face still somewhat serious.

She kneeled to the ground and touched two rocks nearby each other, one bigger than the other.

"Not all are the same in power. Some go beyond what we can imagine."

She was using the rocks as a metaphor as she pointed between the small and big one, but her statement was not met with complete agreement.

"Yeah, but can't we just train them to become stronger?" Questioned the younger trainer. Brendan stepped up to explain.

"You can train your Pokémon to be more powerful, but some are just more powerful without any training."

An expression of bafflement splattered across Sun's eyes. Any idea of a Pokémon that could exceed Nebby or the Ultra Beasts in power never crossed his mind.

Speaking of which, his mind glued itself to the thought of what such a creature would look like. The image of a bigger Lusahilego (Lusamine + Nihilego) with cosmic apparel and wings was produced.

Needless to say, it was kind of scary to imagine.

"That's unreal. How do they get that strong? Are they like gods or something?" The Alolan Champion was still on guard, but he was also reverting to a more childish state.

Erica stood up and shrugged her shoulders. "More or less."

"The ones we know about are hard to find, but this place is different," stated Brendan. "Everybody here knows about those Tapu Pokémon. That'll make it easy to find them."

The gravity in his voice and the content of his message made the older brunette sound like he was hunting legendary Pokémon. However, Sun still harbored miniscule trust for Brendan.

"Are you hunting them for something?" He tried to conceal any emotion that could reveal his disposition, but failed when a little anger seeped out.

Neither veteran trainer took notice of that because they viewed it as him getting serious.

"Yeah. You could say something like that."

Getting that statement out of Brendan gave Sun all the motivation he needed.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you hurt the Tapu's." That placed a little surprise mixed with anger on their faces. It was a little intimidating, yet Sun continued.

"Thanks, Brendan, for helping me to not be a jerk anymore. But I can't let you just go after any legendary Pokémon like that."

A heavy silence fell on the scene. The young boy well understood that he would be thrown into a fierce match because of his words. Any possibility of mending this was falling away as Brendan's eyes were narrowing; he was starting to look very angry.

It was then that Sun realized that running away was the best option for him. Staying still would give them too ripe of an opportunity.

"Haha!"

Both boys were caught off guard by the sudden laughter of Erica. However, it wasn't a maniacal laugh, she was laughing as if she had heard a joke. Her hands gripped her stomach as she realized what was going on and the boys didn't.

"Erica-chan?" Asked Brendan carefully.

"Sorry, Brendan-kun. We need to do a better job of explaining ourselves," said the blonde girl, wiping away a few tears.

Now Sun was really confused. "What do you mean?"

"We're not hunting them for evil or anything like that. We want to understand the Tapus and how they coexist with the people of Alola."

"Nani?!"

Bravado and mustered moxie now appeared comically embarrassing. It would take a lot to recover from that fallacious assumption.

However, the scene didn't appear so funny to Brendan. He walked over to Sun and looked him the eye with irritation and curiosity.

"You thought I was going to steal the legendaries and take over the world?" A slow and unsure nod was the answer given to him.

"Man, you suck at this." The older brunette crossed his arms and looked away, an action that further irritated the younger brunette. Sun raised his left arm in a defensive position.

"It's not my fault you sounded like a villain, baka!"

A contest of glaring erupted between the two boys. Whilst keeping up a façade, Brendan couldn't deny that he saw a bit of himself in Sun. Hints of immaturity and recklessness blended with a good and sincere heart in the works.

However, it wasn't a heart empty of curiosity. This was displayed when Sun resumed questioning the veterans.

"So why do you guys want to understand the Tapus?" Asked the younger boy. Brendan withdrew from glaring to answer.

"We fought two legendaries a few years back alongside our Pokémon. They were probably some of the most powerful Pokémon in the world." Such a statement sounded ludicrous, despite the older brunette already proving his prowess as a trainer.

"You sure about that?"

Erica closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, a clear sign of her irritation. Sun may have been the Champion, but that didn't mean he wasn't naïve.

"They changed the planet by just focusing their minds." Her words managed to get to the young Champion. "Earthquakes and tsunamis from across the globe could be caused by them. They had no regrets about how many people and Pokémon it would kill."

Sun's imagination produced unpleasant images of Alola being devastated by such disasters. The Ultra Wormholes were one thing, but islands being sunken or torn apart were a much worse disaster.

"And you guys beat them?" A nod from Brendan affirmed that.

"Barely. We almost died trying."

The gravity from the word die usually surprised people, but the young protagonist had become accustomed at this point. What was a surprise was the nature of these legendary Pokémon.

"It's hard to believe that any Pokémon could act so selfishly," admitted Sun.

Tapu Koko and Nebby both displayed a great level of compassion and heroism whenever he was in danger. He had not experienced any other blatant emotional response from a legendary Pokémon.

"Yeah." It seemed that Brendan also had a hard time believing it. "We want to learn how the Tapus and Alola live together so well."

Only one possible reason for that came to Sun, despite his density in these situations thus far.

"To make those other guys friends?" Brendan faced the younger boy and gave an honest smile.

"Yeah." Erica stepped forward and pulled out an odd green thing with plenty of hexagons all over it. A dash of familiarity came over Sun when he saw it.

"That's what Brendan is trying to do. Right now, I'm looking for tiny green creatures-"

"That look slimy?"

Flinching her head, Erica showed some surprise. She knew that she had already asked him that question. However, the boy's expression displayed more than simple recollection.

"Yeah..." Sun grabbed his head, practically cursing his poor memory.

"I knew that I heard about that thing somewhere before! There's one of those in my house!" Explained the young boy.

Although both of the older trainers had seen their fair share of strange encounters, this one had to take the Vanilluxe.

Seeing the questioned eyes made Sun feel a little inadequate.

"In your house?" Asked Brendan, still in a state of disbelief.

"Yes! I'll prove it to you!"

...

Brendan and Erica chose to accompany Sun back to his house, despite the ludicrous claim he made. Luckily, it was not far from Ten Carat Hill; there would be little repercussion if this turned out to be a wild Swanna chase.

Upon entering, they quickly started scanning the place for any sign of their green target of interest. But everything appeared as it should.

"It's in my room," said Sun as he walked over to his bedroom door.

Even more bafflement poured onto Brendan's face. "You sure you didn't just dream this?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Sun remained even more irritated. Regardless, Brendan and Erica followed into his room.

Everything seemed as it normally would for a young boy like Sun. Save for the plush of a Charizard and Venusaur.

"These look a little out of place," noted the girl. Brendan leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

"He's also got one that looks like a Clefairy. Went berserk over it the other day." He moved away from her to inspect another corner of the room.

A Charizard and Venusaur were more than understandable for a boy Sun's age, but a Clefairy doll didn't.

Alola did harbor a much different environment than what the blonde girl had seen before. She didn't expect for the Champion to have such a 180 between characteristics.

"Uh, Sun, how old are you?" Asked Erica as she turned to the younger protagonist.

"I'm 12." He remained oblivious to the judgement she was casting. "How old are-"

The sentence was abruptly stopped when Brendan placed his hand on the younger boy's shoulder and shook his head. "Trust me, you don't wanna do that."

Sun was a little confused in a curious manner, but he had enough of arguing with this older trainer. He started to look around the room with attentive brown eyes; the memory from that event was a little foggy.

'I think it was...' It was then that something odd caught his eye. A tint of red was on the gamepad of his Wii U.

Picking it up, he inspected it to find that it didn't really change with any angle.

"Any chance that it can fuse with a Wii U?" Asked Sun, prompting Erica to walk over.

"No." She pulled out the green hexagonal device. "But they can disguise themselves very well."

Discarding it's disguise, the tiny green creature revealed itself. It extended its 'nose' up to the green object that Erica held. A shimmer of light overtook it before practically jumping into the object.

Pure surprise and shock dripped from Sun's face. The day was just full of surprises.

"Is that a pokeball?" Asked the young trainer while putting his mind back together.

Brendan briskly brought his index finger up to answer before realizing his absolute lack of. "We don't really know."

A chuckle escaped from Erica. Surprisingly, Sun began to laugh a little too. There was some trait about these two that he felt he could relate with. Nobody else in Alola had been able to generate this kind of feeling with him.

Just like with Lillie, this wasn't something he wanted to let go of.

As they left the house with Brendan and Erica in front, Sun decided to make a proposal. He stood at the top of the staircase from the porch.

"You guys are gonna meet those powerful Pokémon again, right?" Asked the black haired boy, to which Brendan nodded. "Then let me help you."

"Eh? You want to help us out?" Asked Erica with some disbelief.

Looking past that condescending implication, the younger trainer walked down to them.

"My Pokémon and I can definitely help out, we've overcome a lot of challenges." He placed confidence in his expression for emphasis.

Brendan and Erica looked towards each other with unsure expressions. One side of the argument would dictate approval because Sun had proven himself as the best trainer in Alola.

On the other hand, the boy was probably a Magikarp in a big lake. A shake of brown locks and a white knit hat were a clear sign of disapproval.

"Sorry, but no," answered Brendan solemnly. "My Pokémon and I have already battled you guys; you won't last long enough."

Ironically, this did little to discourage Sun. From his perspective, this was barely different from arguing with an older sibling.

"You didn't get to battle us at our best." He did have a good point to be made with that statement.

However, all that did was make the older brunette boy sigh and scratch his head in irritation. But the first Champion of Alola had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Alright, what if I said that there is another legendary Pokémon of Alola that you don't know about?"

Reactions of interest perked the two veterans' attention. There was little to no doubt that Sun would be lying about that, he had traveled more of the region than they had. Brendan sparked a grin.

Implicit instinct instantly took over as Alola's Champion mirrored that expression.

"Think you can prove it?"

"You're on."

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. Yeah, it's a little shorter than they usually are and didn't have much to do with Pokémon this time. I just wanted to get this to you guys quickly.

I'd say that there are about 2 to 3 chapters left for this story. So please stay with me as we get closer to this fanfiction's conclusion.


	10. A desired rematch

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. But I do very much support the return of Brock and Misty. Now if only we could've made it stay that way...

"Speech"

'Thought'

 _"Mechanical Speech"_

* * *

Being guaranteed a rematch was very satisfying to Sun. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the boy still craved for a proper battle against somebody of Brendan's level. He was also holding onto some symbolic reasoning at the time of opportunity.

Which probably explains why he chose to hold the battle at the Altar of the Moone.

"Pretty far away from the last one," noted Brendan with a hint of boredom. "Don't want anyone to know that you lost twice?"

"Shut up. I just like this place a lot," answered Sun with slight irritation.

It was at that monument that Sun shared two important moments with Lillie. The shrine was the place that Nebby experienced its rebirth and it becoming Sun's Pokemon.

Erica looked around the place, very interested in the design and the fact it even existed.

"It's been a while since I've seen a shrine dedicated to a legendary Pokémon," noted the blonde with some fascination.

A moment of pondering came to her. Why would people worship another Pokemon alongside the Tapus? Was it their ruler? Her moment was defined by thought provoking questions.

Ironically, that didn't last because she turned around and walked back down the stone staircase. That odd action elicited an curious response from Sun.

"You're not gonna stay for the match?"

"I think I know how it will turn out, so no thank you." She pulled the green object out of her bag. "I've gotta search for more of those Zygarde cells. It was nice meeting you."

Although the beginning felt like an insult, the middle was seasoned with a little mystery (he didn't know that the cells were Zygarde), Sun chose to let it all slide and accept Erica's kind parting.

"Ok. It was nice meeting you, too." Erica took that humbly before disappearing from sight.

With only the boys left, it was time to begin the match. Brendan decided to make the first suggestion of the rules.

"How about we make this a 3-on-3 like last time?" Said the older brunette which Sun didn't initially agree to.

"You won't see us at our best with just half of us. Let's make it 6-on-6!" Responded the younger brunette eagerly.

Unfortunately, to some of his chagrin, Sun's offer was met with denial as well as Brendan shook his head. He did have a good reason to do so. Learning about how the Tapu interacted harmoniously with the rest of Alola was pretty important.

But Sun couldn't let go of the urge to experience a full battle.

"Come on. Why not?"

"Fine, let's make it 6-on-5. I only have 5 Pokémon with me." Sun peered down to Brendan's belt to see that he was right, only five pokeballs.

This was actually pretty common for the younger trainer to see. Rarely, if ever, did anyone challenge him with a full team.

Both boys went to opposite sides of the shrine with the rules finally decided. Brendan chose to give Sun an advantage by sending his Pokémon out first.

"Ok. Let's go, Apato!" The Breloom burst out of the pokeball with the readiness to fight.

Choosing carefully, Sun threw out his first Pokémon. Charlie spread out his wings and jaws to express his joy for a battle.

Brendan and Apato both had stars in their eyes at this arrival. A reaction like that was something Sun shared with them. 'Yeah, Vikavolts are pretty cool.'

Awe was cast aside when the first attack was announced. "Apato, use mach punch!"

The grass-fighting type rushed forward with incredible speed and connected his fist to Charlie's abdomen. Little damage was dealt, leaving plenty of room for a counter attack.

"Charlie, use bug bite!" Yelled the younger brunette.

His Pokémon quickly turned those fangs onto the Breloom's abdomen. There was some resentment for that quick attack. Sun took note of how little that first punch did, something didn't seem right about it.

'It was pretty weak, and I saw that before...was that not meant to hurt Charlie?'

Brendan was also having thoughts on the other side of the battlefield. 'That did a little more than I thought it would. Glass cannon?'

Recalling the experience from the last match, the younger brunette decided the next move.

"Charlie, use bug buzz!" The flying stag beetle vibrated his wings at high speeds to cause a powerful screech.

Apato was far away enough from Brendan that he couldn't hear, even if his trainer did yell a command. However, he somehow knew what to do anyway just by looking over to said trainer.

Rushing in, the Breloom powered through the pain to deliver a painful uppercut. Charlie's song was cut short.

"Are you ok Charlie?!" There was honest concern dripping from the voice of the Alolan Champion. He knew all to well his Pokémon's limits.

Those very limits were also picked up by the opponent. He pulled out his Pokémon's premier ball and recalled it. Some natural instinct for Sun kicked in as Brendan pulled out a different pokeball.

"Zap cannon!" That command was issued the moment the next Pokémon came out.

Charlie drew forth a lot of electric energy and passed it through his jaws like a rail cannon.

The electric blast slammed into the opposing Pokémon, possibly dealing serious damage.

"Flamethrower." A jet stream of fire penetrated the leftover smoke and roasted Charlie. The Vikavolt fainted from the damage.

Natsumi stood in front of her trainer as the Pokémon that was called out, they shared an unmoved expression. Sun answered that with a sour frown.

"You switched out to hit Charlie when he was weak," criticized the black-haired boy.

"It's not always going to be super-easy," retorted the brown-haired boy.

Along his entire journey, only two battles seemed to be difficult to Sun: Lusihilego and Kukui. He comprehended the idea of rising difficulty adequately.

'But I also know how to hit back even harder,' thought Sun before carefully choosing his next Pokémon. A little smirk appeared before tossing the next pokeball in the air.

Brendan carefully watched for whatever pocket monster his opponent was calling upon. He deadpaned when it turned out to be a fish flopping in what little water there was.

"R...really?" Disappointment echoed in that expression.

"Yes. Cause I guarantee that you've never seen this!"

On cue, the water in the area started to gather around Wawi. The Small Fry Pokémon started to grow in size considerably before his own body shape was changing. Wawi had entered into his school form and placed a nervous grin on Brendan's face.

Shrugging his shoulders, the older brunette had to admit to what Sun had said.

"Ok. Never seen that one before."

"Told ya." That upbeat and mocking nature was quickly tossed aside for the battle. "Use water gun!"

Such a basic water attack was usually miniscule when launched, but a school form Wishiwashi definitely packed more power. The water gun was practically a geyser.

"Flamethrower!" Yelled Brendan quickly. Natsumi launched another jet stream of fire.

Logically, the water would quickly extinguish the fire and lay waste to most of the area, yet Natsumi managed to push back.

Seeing such a magnificent clash between orange and red against blue and white left Sun immobilized with fascination. Time slowed for him as he realized what this would mean.

'This is only a little bit of what I could find out there.'

Luck sided with Sun. Even in his dazed state, the boy still had the upper hand. Wawi's water managed to power through Natsumi's fire and damage her.

Ending the struggle brought Sun back.

"Yeah! Way to go Wawi!"

"Sunny day," said Brendan calmly, indicating that the battle was far from over.

Focusing, Natsumi employed energy towards the sky to intensify the heat in the area. Water attacks would no longer do as much damage.

A sliver of nervousness plagued Sun as he recalled the intense firepower of the Ninetales. He didn't allow himself to lose focus. Wawi still had immense power with his school form.

"Use water gun!" Commanded the Alolan Champion. His aquatic giant responded by performing the same attack again.

"Dodge back!" Said Brendan in return.

His Ninetales maneuvered backwards, and the water hit the ground before coming anywhere close to her. Bearing witness to this caught the younger trainer off guard.

"Let me guess. Your Pokémon stays like that thanks to the water in the cracks, right?" Guessed the older brunette somewhat mockingly.

Much to his chagrin, Sun was being bested again. Wishiwashi normally maintained a school form by calling on others when they were in large bodies of water. However, he learned with Wawi that they can also maintain this form by just calling forth nearby water if they were too far from other Wishiwashi.

Doing such left them in a weaker state depending on how much water they could hold together.

Adding in the fact that Wawi needed his 'body' to stay connected to water robbed his giant form of intimidation. Shifting his gaze was one way for Sun to accept the assumption.

"Maybe."

"I still admit that I've never seen anything like that, but we're still going to win," proclaimed the older trainer. His Ninetales chuckled a little.

Narrowing the eyes of his water body was a better way for Wawi to show his frustration; his little body couldn't be taken seriously.

"Hey." The water type turned to his trainer. "Don't worry. We still got something."

That was easily heard by Brendan; he perked an eyebrow in return. Sun returned his gaze with vigor.

"Surf!"

Everyone else were shocked by that one word. Even with the intensified heat, the conjured water from such a powerful water Pokémon would be obscenely massive.

Wawi discarded his shocked expression for a sneer and followed his trainer's command. Water poured out from his body and onto the rest of the platform.

Brendan quickly regained his composure. A reflex guided his next command.

"Solarbeam!"

Natsumi absorbed sunlight and blasted it out her maw. The bright beam pierced through the incoming wave, but failed to be an impediment. The crashing wave slammed with water dripping off of the sides of the altar.

One glance at his Wishiwashi and Sun could tell that it wasn't a flawless step forward. Solarbeam did hit and inflict damage; it was probably diluted by the water, though.

Another glance to his opponent rewarded him with the sight of Natsumi on the ground.

'Yosh, one down!'

Retrieving his Pokémon, Brendan retained a neutral expression. That was the first time that Sun succeeded in knocking out any of his Pokémon.

Some hints of frustration hit him, though they didn't last long.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You've still got to get through 4 more if you want to win," said the older trainer, maintaining a sense of control.

"Yeah. But beating just one of them already makes it feel like we can win," retorted Sun.

Rousing a Charizard as a Pikachu would be tough, but the young Champion could bear to look past it all.

Brendan scoffed before sending out his next Pokémon, Dusknoir. Instead of battling right away, however, she turned around and started hugging her trainer. Wawi's big eyes somehow enlarged at the scene and so did Sun's.

'That kind of reminds me of Bewear,' thought the boy with a little concern. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. She just gets very happy sometimes," wheezed Brendan. His Pokémon released him from the death grip and returned to a fighting ready position.

There was no blatant type advantage for Sun to work against with this situation, so concern was reduced on his side. Wawi was weakened, but he bore an advantage in pure power.

"Surf!" Repeating the same tactic seemed to be the best approach.

The giant water conglomerate summoned more water to send out from his body. Neither Brendan nor his Dusknoir displayed any emotion, if the latter even could.

"Dokoro, shadow sneak." His command was leveled and prepared.

Within a second, Dokoro dived into her own shadow and raced towards her opponent. Being in the shadow literally allowed her to bypass surf and get straight to Wawi.

Sun was caught baffled. From his point of view, the ghost Pokemon completely vanished. It wasn't until he registered Brendan's words that he understood what happened.

'Where is she?' His mind panicked to find where Dokoro was.

Suddenly, the shadow could be seen next to Wawi's right fin. "Look out!"

The Wishiwashi gawked as Dokoro popped out of her shadowed and slammed him. She had more potency because Wawi was disconnected from the water and left sprawled on his side.

"Wawi!" Sun dashed to his partner's side.

Expression was difficult for the school form, but the fact that Wawi was still maintaining it was reassuring.

A flip back up allowed the Wishiwashi to reconnect his fin to the water.

"That was really fast," noted the younger trainer, trying to uphold a calm demeanor. "You won't catch us off guard again.

Waves from surf gave Dokoro's shadow ample cover; Sun would need to avoid using that attack again. That wouldn't be too difficult, sunny day had worn off and Wawi still had enough power.

The power that was attained between Sun and Wawi alone should have been proof that he had enough skill to move on to the next level.

However, the next level was still a steep climb.

"You sure about that?" Questioned Brendan as he placed his hand on Dokoro's body.

A tense feeling spread through the challenger when he saw this, he was still aware of the gap between the teams. He was about to see that in even more effect.

No words were spoken, Brendan and Dokoro sank into the ground completely. It didn't take Sun long to realize what was happening this time.

'They used shadow sneak again?! How'd he get in there?' Screamed the boy in his head. He had seen and gotten his Pokémon to use that attack. However, a human fitting inside of there was definitely new. How and why were certainly up for debate.

Imitating Professor Kukui would have to wait; the shadow was starting to move just like before. Tricking Sun the same way twice wouldn't be a cake walk.

"Wait, Wawi," instructed the trainer calmly.

The agile and fluid movements of the shadow indicated the Brendan was trying to knock Sun's concentration off.

Gunning it straight for the water Pokémon revealed exactly where Brendan planned to attack.

'Wawi's tail!'

Reflexes demanded that the young boy utter an attack command immediately. He rebelled against it, choosing to wait for the exact moment the shadow stopped.

Said moment arrived much quicker than expected!

"Aqua Tail!" Said Sun, lining his words with panic.

Wawi didn't need to hear his trainer's panicked voice to understand the tense situation. He lifted his tail off of the ground to smash his oncoming opponent.

Tension exploded along with the water from the attack. Brendan and Dokoro were indeed visible around Wawi's water body, insisting upon the idea that the ghost could keep fighting.

"Alright, that may have not been enough, but we-"

Abruptly, Sun stopped talking when he noticed that Wawi was falling to the ground. Every bit of his water body flowed away and revealed the defeated Wishiwashi.

"But how did you beat him? He should have at least survived a ghost attack," noted the surprised trainer.

"Yeah, but not an electric one." Brendan's explanation did little more than confuse his opponent even further. "Dokoro knows thunderpunch. Using that canceled shadow sneak."

All of that clicked in place for Sun once it was explained.

Using shadow sneak with the trainer inside of the shadow prevented the opponent from hearing another attack command. He didn't realize the additional benefit of extra force from canceling shadow sneak, they would have been shot out.

It was no wonder Brendan was able to take on such a powerful legendary Pokémon.

"I see," said Sun as he retrieved Wawi. "Thanks for trying, buddy."

To get through the match he would probably have to shamelessly rely upon type advantage of whatever Pokémon Brendan had sent out.

"Go, Maggie!" Sending out a ghost to fight a ghost was derived of ingenuity; both of them were supereffective against each other.

'She may not have shadow sneak, but we have something else. He just has to use shadow sneak again.' Sweat dripped from Sun's forehead. His chances of winning were slipping.

Brendan narrowed his eyes for a moment, almost disappointingly. Pulling his hand from Dokoro's back, against Sun's prediction, and he issued the next command.

"Dokoro, use shadow ball." The ghost cyclops conjured up her attack and launched it.

"Maggie, use shadow ball!" Sun panicked, realizing how much of this was going against him and Maggie.

Both ghost attacks slammed into each other, causing an explosion! The force of the blast knocked Maggie back a few feet because she was lighter than Dokoro. This gave Sun an idea.

However, it would also rely on Brendan giving a certain command to Dokoro. Keeping silence was actually the best way to make that happen.

Brendan became a little bored and perturbed at his opponent's lack of commands.

"Use shadow ball, again." His voice was really starting to lack enthusiasm.

"Maggie, you use it too," said the Alola trainer with much more focus lining his voice.

Shadow balls collided into one another again, but with a difference. Dokoro's was significantly stronger than before and managed to somewhat penetrate towards Maggie.

The Mismagius took a significant amount of damage from that attack and was knocked back again. This was playing straight into Sun's plan.

'That's pretty far away. Sending Dokoro that close without shadow sneak could be a risk,' thought Brendan.

He couldn't see, or rather believe, that his opponent was planning something. "Dokoro, use shadow sneak."

The cyclops nodded before using her agile and effective attack. Sun smirked at his luck and ingenuity. Once the Dusknoir was only 5 feet away from Maggie, he uttered the command.

"Confuse ray!"

Nothing more needed to be said. The Pointed Hat Pokémon understood what her trainer was planning.

Right as Dokoro exited her shadow to perform the attack from behind, she was might by the blinding flash of confuse ray. Her attack still connected, leaving Maggie with very little health to cling on to, but she was now dazed.

A wealth of revelation burst in Brendan's gray eyes. It was temporary, however, as he readied to issue the next command.

Sun was first to speak, though. "Use shadow ball!"

Maggie resourcefully abused the close distance between her and Dokoro to inflict serious damage with her spectral ball.

Brendan refused to take this standing down. "Dokoro, shadow punch!"

Although the Gripper Pokémon heard and understood what to do, the confusion caused her to slam into the ground. Things were starting to turn against the older brunette.

Sun was unable to suppress his grin; his use of tactics and good luck were making things so easy for him and his Pokémon.

"Maggie, use hex!" The ghost witch smirked, content with the clever finish.

"Shadow sneak!" Brendan accented his voice slightly with panic.

His luck won out. Dokoro had enough balance and hearing to slip into her shadow, sneak behind Maggie, and deliver a finishing blow. The Mismagius landed in the open arms of her trainer.

An expression denoting sour disappointment held her down. Sun laughed lightly in response.

"Come on. You know they didn't cheat," said the trainer. His Pokémon only looked away before closing her eyes to rest.

Retrieving his Pokémon, Sun turned his gaze over to Brendan, who seemed a little irritated. That panic in his voice made it seem like Sun really was gaining a foothold in this battle.

The gray eyes met with the brown ones. "You tricked me."

"And you thought we couldn't do any better," retorted the younger trainer with a hint of taunt.

Administering a full restore, Brendan would be sure that that wouldn't happen again. Air started to tense up around Sun. His last three Pokémon were arguably his best. All three of them would need to be enough to pull this match through.

Sun would need to be vigilant and reserved to carry them too. In fact, that moment seemed like a good time to pull out a good trick.

"Go, Mimi!" Said the boy as he sent out his Mimikyu.

Perking one of his eyebrows, Brendan was curious at the appearance of this challenger.

"A Pikachu?" Sun chuckled a little; he never got tired of the joke that was people mistaking Mimi for a Pikachu. "Whatever, use shadow ball."

Dokoro opened the mouth on her stomach and fired a larger variant of the attack. The sphere's collision with Mimi caused a wide explosion, giving the appearance of a knock-out attack. The clearing of the smoke revealed one hilarious fact, though; Mimi was standing perfectly fine.

Her 'head' did tilt to the side a little too much, though

"Use shadow claw!" Said Sun with plenty of vigor.

Brendan was caught with surprise yet again as the 'Pikachu' dashed over just fine. A black arm extended out and swiped Dokoro and inflicted massive damage.

"What? That's not a Pikachu!" Stated the surprised trainer.

"Yep, it's a Mimikyu!" Responded the confident trainer. Rotom popped out of his backpack and continued explaining.

 _"It'z a Pokémon that choozzez to disguize itself like Pikachu on purpozze,"_ explained the machine.

A bit more surprise appeared on Brendan's face when he saw this. A talking Pokémon was rare, a floating machine was rare, and that would make the chances of seeing the Rotom Pokedex almost non-existant.

Casually, Sun turned over to his friend. He had actually forgotten that Rotom was in the backpack.

"Were you just sitting in my backpack the entire time?"

 _"Yeah. You weren't really doing that good, zzo I got bored,"_ answered the Pokémon.

Expectedly, Sun felt a little betrayed and defensive after that comment. Logic and reason still remained and prevented him from being completely agitated.

"What're you talking about! I'm doing great!" Argued the boy.

 _"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourzzelf that."_

"Fine! Mimi, use shadow sneak!" The Alolan trainer brashly returned his attention to the battlefield.

"Dokoro. Use shadow sneak too."

Both ghost Pokémon submerged into their shadows and darted around the ground. It would stand to logic that Dokoro, who had much more experience in battle, would be able to strike first and deal more damage.

However, Sun had inadvertently stumbled upon another advantage between him and his opponent; size.

The shadow of the Mimikyu was much easier to see because it was smaller and faster. She pervaded past each serpentine movement made by Dokoro with her own quicker variant.

A somewhat irritating game of tag persisted for at least ten seconds before Mimi's shadow crossed into Dokoro's. A smaller, circular shadow formed where the two once were.

"What the?"

"That's new," noted Brendan.

A few more seconds passed by before both Pokémon reemerged through a jump. Dokoro landed on her back while Mimi perfectly dismounted.

One could clearly see the outcome of the fight. Although Mimi was the winner, she sustained some damage.

'Did they fight in the shadow?' Thought her trainer while she dusted herself off.

The older brunette spoke no words. A subtle, sympathetic smile was cast towards his partner before she was retrieved. She must have held a great deal of loyalty towards Brendan and received friendship back.

But that was a fleeting moment. Brendan pulled out a plain Pokeball and sent out his next Pokémon, a Mightyena.

"Never seen that one before," said Sun without noticing the glare being cast towards Mimi.

Rotom flipped around to take a picture before explaining. _"Thatzz a Mightyena. Itzz a Pokémon from the Hoenn region."_

"Isn't it a little unfair to get help from somebody who is not battling?" Suggested the opponent.

Unexpectedly, Rotom did take some offense to that accusation.

 _"Hey! I'm a Pokedex too! There'zz nothing wrong with me lending a hand to my buddy!"_ Protested the Pokémon possessed machine.

"But, he does kind of have a point," said Sun. "You shouldn't tell me stuff when he would have to look it up."

Upset, Rotom backed away from his friend to take more pictures without disturbing the fight as best as he could.

Brendan took into account what was said. If Rotom really was Sun's Pokedex in addition to also being his friend then it would not be unfair for the machine to tell him things. But it wasn't the time to be thinking over semantics.

It was the time for battle.

"Rin, use fire fang!" With her sharp fangs ignited, the dark hound leapt forward and sunk her mouth into Mimi.

The Mimikyu struggled wildly against Rin's grip. She was out of control at the sight of her costume being ruined, something that Sun quickly picked up on.

"Mimi! It's ok! Calm down!" His words did little to dissuade his Pokémon from her episode.

Talking her out of this with logic and reason wouldn't work. It was possible that he could use this agitated state to inflict more damage. "Alright. Then use play rough!"

Just as Sun said that, the Mightyena let go of Mimi. The latter quickly took the opportunity to slap her vulgar assailant around with some fury; a small cloud formed around them.

When the comedic cloud vanished, it appeared that Rin didn't take that much damage. She was still standing with only minor damage.

'What? But fairy is super-effective to-' Sun stopped himself when he realized what had happened. 'She was using intimidate earlier.'

Understanding the disadvantage he was at, Sun contemplated his options. Keeping Mimi out on the battlefield with her ruffled appearance and mindset would surely work against them. Sending out Nebby now would be a terrible idea since a Mightyena had a large advantage naturally.

Manny was the only Pokémon who seemed to be a fitting opposition.

"Sorry, Mimi. Take a breather," said the boy before pulling out the pokeball. The Pokémon looked a little sad before being retrieved.

Trusting in his choice and partner, Sun sent out his Incineroar.

This was an interesting match up. A dark hound who could bite with flaming fangs against a dark panther who could punch with fiery fists. A tension was burning in the air at how this would turn out.

Until Manny laid down onto the ground and chose to ignore Rin entirely.

"What?"

"Manny!"

The dark wrestler looked back at his trainer with arrogance and slack; he obviously lacked interest in this battle. Something that went against what everyone else expected.

"Come on, Manny. I need your help against Rin." Sun was practically begging. His partner responded by looking over to Rin and scoffing, making her angry.

Incineroars were known for their desire to be in the spotlight. However, for Manny to outright refuse to participate made him look much more like a Charizard. Amidst his begging, Sun noticed what was really going on.

"Uh, Brendan? Any chance you could change your Pokémon?" Requested the boy sheepishly.

"Why?" There was a lack of cooperation with the opposing side.

"I think Manny wants to fight Apato. He doesn't like to take defeats laying down," explained Sun with a sheepish grin.

Brendan sighed with irritation. Estimating Sun's prowess as a Champion was starting to become more and more annoying. He complied, however, for nothing else than to really see what they could do.

"Fine. Sorry, Rin," apologized the trainer before retrieving his Mightyena. He tossed out the pokeball and released Apato.

Manny smirked before getting back up and towering over his opponent. The Breloom responded with a blank expression. Somehow, there was intensity between the two.

"Flame charge!"

"Mach punch!"

It was a repeat of what occurred when they fought the first time, but with some difference. Manny's flame charge was stronger this time. He may have take the hit, but he was also able to send Apato back a few feet.

"Apato. Seed bomb," said Brendan with cool tone. His Pokémon followed that command and flung the seeds off of his tail.

They exploded just in front of Manny, obscuring his vision. A vision that was soon clouded with a speeding Breloom.

Sun panicked to counter. "Flamethrower!"

Manny managed to hear the command just in time. He opened his maw and managed to inflict damage.

His effort was only partially successful, though. Apato managed through the flames and delivered a painful right hook. The fire-dark type stumbled backwards again and clung his cheek.

Worry dawned on Sun's face while watching this.

'Oh no! This isn't going to end well.'

The yellow eyes of Manny met with the worried brown ones of his trainer. A bond always existed between these two, ever since that time of choice. So many important moments shared between them.

They were friends.

Manny pushed aside all of his pain, stood up, and huffed with a semi-authentic glare. Sun and Rotom were filled with energy at seeing this.

"Yes! You can do this, Manny!" Cheered Sun.

 _"Yeah! Go get em!"_ The support from both of his friends gave Manny a confident sneer.

Brendan couldn't suppress a small laugh from this spirit. Very few people showed this much determination in a battle to him. It was invigorating to his passion.

"Flame charge!" Manny dashed forward and slammed Apato, the tiger was slowly becoming a blur.

"Low sweep!" A spin of the Breloom's legs knocked the Incineroar's.

This match was already close from the beginning, and it was only becoming even more intense.

"Cross chop!"

"Sky uppercut!"

Manny's raised claws quickly collided with Apato's skyward attack. Neither move connected with the head of either Pokémon, they had entered into a struggle of strength. The contest ended with no winner because they were knocked back by almost equal force.

Given the physical state both Pokémon were in, a finishing blow was sure to come.

But who would be first to fall?

'This is gonna be a close one,' noted Sun before meeting his eyes with Brendan's. There was an undeniable excitement brimming in those eyes.

"Dynamic punch!"

"Darkest lariat!"

Dashing forward, both Pokémon reeled back to deliver their blow. Potency was definitely siding with Apato; his attack would deal far more damage. The dynamic fist aimed straight for Manny's side.

'Come on...'

Miraculously, Apato missed. His fist went straight past Manny's side before being hit by the spinning swipes and knocked out. The proud Incineroar got his victory and got it good.

Brendan walked over to his Pokémon, now down on the ground. "Good job."

He pointed the pokeball towards the Breloom and retrieved it. Apato let out a grin before getting some rest.

Calmly, he sent Rin back out into the battle. Although she was a dark type as well, her intimidate ability would lend favor to their side first.

"Use rock smash," said the older brunette calmly.

Rin leapt forward with her right paw drawn back. This was a fighting type move that potentially weakened the defense of whomever it hit; two advantages in one fell swoop.

Too bad it didn't hit.

Manny dodged backwards, avoiding an attack yet again. This space of difference gave Sun the opportunity they needed.

"Flame charge!" Yelled the young boy enthusiastically. His starter Pokémon slammed into Rin, nailing a critical hit.

The dark hound was sent skidding across the ground towards her trainer with no effort to get back up; she was done. Miniscule traces of shock painted Brendan's eyes. That physical attack should have been weakened by half.

'Unless...' He glanced over to the Incineroar, now literally on fire. 'Did he just ignore Rin's intimidation?'

A smirk flashed across his face. There was definitely more to this trainer than he had given credit for.

"Is she gonna be ok? We kinda got carried away." Sun's expression was of genuine sympathy.

"Yeah. Just gotta make sure that Natsumi doesn't know about this." Casually retrieving his fallen partner, Brendan decided to flatter Sun a little bit for his skill. "I'll be honest, you've done much better than I thought you would've."

Turning down that compliment was certainly out of the question, but Sun could tell from the pause that there was more.

"And?"

"But this is where it ends."

The difference in expectation of sentence was a tiny surprise to Sun. Brendan tossed the pokeball into the air. It released the Pokémon within with a little more flare than previous entrances.

What came out of the shining light was a Swampert, another Pokémon that Sun had never seen before.

 _"Wow, I've never seen that Pokémon before. It muzzt be rare!"_ Rationalized Rotom. Sun nodded in agreement to that statement, a rarity that was supposedly like Manny. However, there was something else odd about this one.

Swampert's expression remained blank in contrast to Manny's exhilarated moxie. Even without the attitude of the latter, there was still something odd about the former.

'Is it...bored?'

Regardless of whatever disposition the opposition took, Sun would need to hit hard.

"Manny! Use darkest lariat!" Using a dark type move would be wise. Swampert looked like a water type; so fire was pointless.

A great flare proceeded the Incineroar as he started. The boost from flame charge made him incredibly fast. Potency and ferocity were combined into that one attack.

Connecting the blow with Swampert sent some air back with a boom. It was certainly a powerful hit.

"Alright! Great start!" Cheered Sun.

Manny shared in his trainer's enthusiasm. Victory didn't seem too far away. Suddenly, h quickly felt something else; pain.

Looking down at his lower torso, he could clearly see the Swampert's fist firmly embedded. A simple flex was all that was needed to send Manny stumbling before collapsing on the ground. He was down and out.

"What?! What happened?" Bafflement conquered the face of the young trainer.

 _"I didn't even see that attack!"_ Stated an equally surprised Rotom.

The Swampert retained it's bored face. However, some personality came into the mix when he turned his head over to his trainer.

"Don't underestimate these guys, Aqua."

Sun looked down at Manny with mixed feelings, mostly surprise. Anger was most certainly absent from the mixture. The sheer determination that his Pokémon displayed was more than enough to be grateful for.

"Thanks, pal," said the boy before retrieving Manny.

The attack that knocked out Manny was likely a fighting type. Mimi would definitely be able to work around that.

"Alright, go Mimi!" The fairy ghost returned to the battlefield, but this time with her disguise broken. "Play rough."

There was no doubt from either side that she was faster than Aqua. The comedically colored cloud covered both of them up. Interpreting the end result was especially difficult because of how Brendan was.

'He's still so calm. I can't tell if that means it's working or not,' noted the younger trainer.

"Mud bomb." The older brunette broke the tension by saying only one command.

Dismissing the cloud revealed an amazing, or hilarious, sight. Aqua held a giant mud sphere over his head with Mimi right in front of him.

That bored expression stayed even as he slammed it down onto her. Mud was no doubt super effective against the Mimikyu, because she couldn't stand the fact of her outfit getting so dirty.

'Oh no.' Thought Sun upon seeing this. His Pokémon had literally fainted because of appearance.

"Isn't that playing a little dirty?" Asked Sun.

"I wasn't really thinking. Mud bomb was the first move that came to mind," explained Brendan with a shrug of the shoulders.

Odds of winning seemed very ambiguous to the Champion of Alola. Brendan and his Pokémon had found a way to trump anything that they were met with, Sun had barely been able to scrap together to get this far, admittedly. To top it off, Aqua was a Pokémon exhibiting power unlike anything he had ever seen before.

'But I still have Nebby.'

The Champion and the Lunaala had a deep bond. Not the deepest, but a bond regardless. Sun's heart was devoid of any doubt in Nebby's power. He held the nest ball in hand, assurance in his eyes.

"Go! Nebby!"

The Moone Pokémon burst out of the pokeball, spreading its gorgeously astral wings with a shriek.

Awe struck Brendan's face when he saw the legendary Pokémon, even Aqua was slightly surprised.

"Yeah. There's no doubt that that's a legendary Pokémon." The older brunette raised his arms with the right fingers pointed at the bracelet on his left wrist. "I guess we'll take it one step further with Mega Evolution."

Pressing the rainbow gem, he sent energy towards Aqua. The Pokémon was engulfed in a pink sphere as the ground shook.

Aqua had burst out with greater muscles, longer fins, and a satisfied expression; he mega evolved.

Seeing the magnificent arrival of Nebby and the first demonstration of Mega Evolution made Sun's soul flare. He couldn't help himself at all; this is what it meant to battle alongside Pokémon.

To push even further.

"Mud shot!" Brendan took the first initiative with his partner. Aqua swung his fists, shooting out mud blasts.

Sun's reaction would need to step up to match this.

"Psychic!" Nebby utilized telekinetic abilities to halt the incoming attacks and send them flying back.

Skidding across the surface of the water, Aqua evaded every single shot that came back. He rushed forward with his fist drawn back.

"Ice punch!" The fist suddenly turned cold and punched the Moone Pokémon square in the face.

"Shadow claw!" Damage was quickly reciprocated as Nebby slashed Aqua's right arm.

The water-ground type retreated a few steps, inherently knowing that his trainer wanted him to. Nebby and Sun initially perceived this as gaining a foothold on their side.

"Muddy water!" Aqua summoned more water out of thin air and created a wave heading straight towards them.

Sun's reaction needed to be quick to avoid this. He remembered more than one way to fight.

"Teleport!" Nebby instantly disappeared before way could hit.

The opposition were surprised, having rarely ever seen this move used in a fight. Even more surprise came when the legendary appeared right behind Aqua, an opportunity that wouldn't be wasted.

"Now use shadow ball!" Little distance made the attack deal more damage when it shot from the hole in Nebby's head.

They were gaining more ground. Sheer power and experience may have sided with Brendan and his Pokémon, but Sun was able to match it with unorthodox techiniques. Victory's sweet taste was slowly coming to them.

"Nebby, use lots off shadow balls!" Said Sun seriously.

His partner shot out many of the spectral spheres from all around its body.

"Get in close." Said Brendan. Aqua rushed forward, water shooting out of the back of his fists to give more speed.

Very few of the attacks were actually able to reach him. It didn't take long before he was in front of Nebby. "Use power-up!

He had abbreviated the name of the attack to save time. However, Aqua's fist just past through the Lunala without dealing any damage.

'Ghost type.'

"Fly up! Get back!" Sun wasn't going to pass up this chance for safety. Nebby beat it's wings to fly upwards, logically, towards a safe distance.

"Water gun!" The Mega Pokémon shot out the attack and landed a direct hit, but Nebby still remained airborne. "Get close!"

The orange membranes on Aqua's arms shot water yet again, this time with enough force to lift him into the air. Being above ground no longer offered any protection for Nebby.

"Ice punch!" Commanded Brendan.

As the water starter approached the lunar legendary, Sun carefully waited for what would happen. He knew exactly how to respond.

"Teleport!"

Like Goku with his instant transmission, Nebby avoided the attack with only a split second to spare. It reappeared behind Aqua with shadow claw ready.

'What? I didn't even tell him to do that yet.' Sun was witnessing the deeper bond he forged with Nebby, and it was spectacular.

As Nebby poised to strike, Aqua swerved around and parried the attach with his hand. The Legendary was wide open. Throwing this opportunity aside was certainly out of the question.

An ice punch landed straight in the center of Nebby's body, knocking the air out of it.

Sun had to admit that he didn't expect that; but he should have seen that coming given Brendan's record. He noticed that Brendan had taken up a fighting stance; there was much similarity between him and his Pokémon in position.

As Aqua descended back to the ground below, guided safely by water jets. Nebby prepared to give chase.

That was quickly halted by a halting hand signal from Sun. A plan was brewing the Alolan Champion's head.

"You can't just keep relying on teleport, you know," noted the older trainer. "But you two have used it in a way that we've never seen before."

"Thanks. I guess doing the same thing over and over again doesn't always help that much." Admitted Sun before smirking. "How about I show you something else that I guarantee that you've never seen before."

Offering that flashed something across the Mega Swampert's face; interest.

Seeing that gave the Alolan Champion even more reason to be excited.

"Alright, we'll play. What else do you have up your sleeve?" Asked the older brunette, masking his excitement well.

Turning his head upwards, Sun prepared the stage. "Nebby, get ready to use moongeist beam!"

The Lunala would have used the attack immediately had its trainer not said to get ready.

Bracing his wrists together, Sun revealed the Ghostnium Z that he had set on his Z-ring. The excitement on his face was hidden as he placed his hands in front and bent his back down. Pulling himself back up, Sun put his hands outward with the fingers pointed downward; he was taking a jumpscare position.

Seeing this was most certainly novel for Brendan, and it only got more interesting as energy literally fluxed from Sun upwards to Nebby.

Placing its wingtips atop the crescent crown, Nebby absorbed surrounding light. The sky was starting to become dark before the Z-energy surrounded and entered him.

Nebby could feel it. This was the power that he got from Sun!

"Now!"

Moongeist beam rained down onto Aqua. It was an extremely powerful beam, but a brief one. The ground started to darken as the beam subsided.

Dark hands emerged out of the ground and grabbed the Mega Pokémon before pulling him underground. Brendan had no time to process this before a large explosion erupted from the attack.

The blowing wind was refreshing for the worn down Alola trainer. Nebby floated down to him, panting from the power of that attack.

"We did it." The Champion and Pokémon shared a content smile. They had truly come far together.

 _"You guyzz, that wazz awesome!"_ Yelled Rotom as he floated over. _"I took a lot of picturezz, but that was the coolest! We need to frame that!"_

A small chuckle resonated from the trainer. The last time the three of them were together, they were having a good bonding moment. Another had come for them.

A little concern sprouted from Sun for his opponents when they didn't respond for a few seconds. That attack was pretty intense. While looking over to the other side of the arena, he could faintly hear Brendan's voice.

"Hey, are you guys ok over there?"

"Roaring wave."

Suddenly, in an instant, Aqua was right in front of Nebby; his left fist only inches away from the legendary Pokémon. Sun couldn't even see what had happened.

Nebby was launched back with tremendous force before being embedded into a cliff. It was a complete knock out.

Slowly, Sun turned his head towards Brendan. His surprise-coaxed expression was met with one of fierce seriousness; was the older trainer mad? He was mimicking the same pose that his Pokémon had taken on.

"D-did you see that?" Asked Sun to Rotom, who was also shocked.

 _"N-no."_

Brendan quickly calmed down. It was if he snapped out of a trance.

"Oh, sorry about that." He scratched the back of his cap with a sheepish grin. "We got a little carried away."

Subjectivity definitely applied to what little meant in that context. Sun was completely shocked at this turn of events.

'I can't believe it.' His thoughts were somewhat sour and childish. 'I really wanted to win too.'

However, the younger boy had learned from his previous mistakes. Throwing a tantrum of emotions would reward him no benefits. Accepting his loss was the most responsible option.

The desire had yet to vanish, however.

 _"You ok?"_ Asked Rotom sympathetically. A content expression was offered in return.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You put up a good fight," complimented Brendan as he walked over.

Sun noticed that Aqua wasn't around, probably returned to the Pokeball. He quickly did the same for Nebby.

"Thanks. You were amazing with your Pokémon."

"What was that thing you did?" Asked the older trainer.

 _"It'z called a Z-move. It super powerzz an attack to a different stage,"_ explained Rotom before turning over to Sun. _"But what you did wazz so awesome. I bet nobody's ever done that before."_

"Thanks." A beeping red screen on Rotom indicated that he was running low on power. He hopped back into Sun's backpack to recharge, frequent use of the camera must drain the battery.

The young trainer turned over to the victor of the match. "You and your Pokémon were definitely cool."

Flattery did very little to change Brendan's attitude, so Sun had to get straight to the point. "So, what do you think?"

Understanding that he made a promise, the older brunette pondered over the results of the battle for a few seconds. Several times through the course of the match, he failed to maintain a collective mind against this younger trainer.

The power on display from Sun's legendary Pokémon was also quite exceptional.

"You do have some good skill." His compliment perked the Champion up. "But the answer is still no."

Feeling like a student who got another D on his exam, Sun was partially disappointed. Giving everything and creating a new move were still not enough?

"Come on? Really?" Complained the black-haired boy.

"Yes, really."

"I think we tried really hard." He looked away with a disappointed face.

Brendan sighed in response; dealing with eager young children was never easy for anyone older than that age. Admittedly, he did feel some nostalgia of himself from Sun.

Because of that evocative sensation, the older boy decided to elaborate.

"You're definitely good, but you only got us a few times because you used surprises," explained the brunette.

As much as he wanted to deny it, Sun had to comply with what was being said. Wawi's school form, Mimi's disguise, and the Z move itself were all things that were not really seen much outside of Alola.

"But what about Nebby? The two of us together could definitely help," argued the younger boy, still not wanting to yield.

"Really good, especially with teleport. But still not even close to what Erica-chan and I had to deal with," retorted Brendan.

That probably wasn't too much of a surprise either. Nebby was only able to defeat Lusiheligo after Sun and his other Pokémon weakened her.

"Also, we were pulling a few punches," said Brendan.

Sun's eyes tripled in size when he heard that. Whether it was from the shock that this trainer was literally that good or anger that he didn't get the full treatment like he wanted.

"How?!"

"I could have sent Aqua even more energy, and I did agree to rules that you wanted just to make things easier for you."

Even more points that weighed against him. Now it seems that the odds of winning were never truly in Sun's favor at all.

A sigh of pure irritation and self-disappointment escaped from him. Breaking his end of the deal was definitely not on his agenda. Brendan and his Pokémon had done more than enough to convince him of how much more fearsome the outside world could be.

'Now that I think about it. Alola is probably more for me.'

There were a lot of people in the tropical region who would definitely miss him if he left. That's not even mentioning the complexities of trying to keep his title as Champion.

"Sun." Brendan spoke to garner some attention. "Why did you want to leave Alola?"

A simple question, but most certainly one that revealed much. The initial reason he wanted to go with Brendan was to see the rest of the world as a hot-blooded trainer would. However, there was definitely another reason lying under it.

"I guess...I was hoping that I could see a friend again. One I really like," explained the boy with some shame. He was starting to realize that he hadn't escaped from his lament entirely. "She left a while ago. I wanted to tell her that I really like her, but I didn't."

"Too scared?" Brendan just seemed to have all the answers.

A small laugh resounded from the younger boy. "Yeah, I didn't want to hold her back from her dreams of being strong."

Brendan sighed again, but this time with content instead of irritation. He pulled several revives and potions out of his bag before offering them to Sun. They were obviously accepted.

"You'll get another chance. If she is really your friend like you think she is."

"Thanks. I'll definitely tell her next time."

Brendan nodded and walked towards the stone staircase. There was much more than a good match that he and his team were able to provide for this region. Before disappearing from view, he turned around for one last thing.

"There's definitely more to that Z move thing. Keep on it. I want to battle you and your team again when you guys are ready."

A confident nod reciprocated that demand. "Yeah. I'll definitely get better with Z moves and battle with you again!"

No more words were spoken as the older trainer left the younger with a new sense of the world. Now Sun did know what to do, stay in Alola and continue to grow stronger alongside everyone.

Returning from her job in Hau'oli city, Sakura wiped the sweat off of her forehead. It was most certainly difficult at that said job.

"But it is much better when I get home." Her Meowth came up to her and rubbed its head to her leg. "I know, I missed you too."

Her sight shifted to the countertop where she noticed something very odd. There were no grocery bags on it. Sun had always been willing and helpful to go get the groceries whenever asked. However, he didn't share that willpower in putting the bags away.

'But I thought that he got to the farmer's market three hours ago,' thought Sakura.

The possibility of Sun's depression taking control again came to her. She shook her head violently, making her hair spin. If he snapped at his friends before, what worse things could come after that?

"No! I don't want to think of what could happen."

Right as she finished saying that, Sun walked in. Sakura ran over to make sure that he was alright. She wanted to make sure that no self-inflicted injuries were present.

"Uh, Mom, what are you doing?" Asked her confused son.

"I just want to make sure you're ok. I'm still worried about you." A mother's love was one of the most powerful forces in the world.

"It's ok. I battled against that guy I was talking about the other day," explained Sun with an honest expression of assurance.

"Oh?" Her interest peeked at that answer.

The next few minutes were spent with Sun trying to recount the amazing battle that he had Brendan and the lesson that he learned from it. He was now confident of what he needed to do.

"That's good. I'm glad you're ok."

Sun couldn't hold back the warm smile he crafted in response. However, that didn't last long as he noticed his mother's expression darken.

Meowth picked up on this and ran away. The boy soon realized exactly what was about to happen.

"I...I forgot the groceries...didn't it?" The slow nod of his mother indicated that this conversation would be long and painful.

On that day, Sun learned several things. The road to facing the rest of the world is a long and arduous one, staying in Alola to get stronger there was important, but he was still a 12-year old boy living under his mother's roof.

* * *

So, according to the counter, this is the single longest chapter I've ever written. Congratulations if you made it this far! Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you have something to say or favorite/follow.

I did look it up to figure out that how I portray shadow sneak is not correct, but I'm a little too far ahead now to go back and change that. Whoops.

Only one more chapter to go for this story. Look for it in the near future!


	11. A healthy sun, a warm world

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, we'd keep our lips a little more sealed about the upcoming games.

"Speech"

'Thought'

 _"Mechanical Speech"_

* * *

Kukui was very fascinated by what he was viewing. The film taken from Rotom was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He repeatedly replayed the footage of when Nebby used moongeist beam on Aqua.

"That's definitely two different attacks," noted the buff professor.

 _"Isn't that what normally happenzz?"_ Inquired Rotom. _"Z-movezz are made happen with the regular movezz."_

A shake of the professor's head disapproved the idea.

"No. The Z-move occurs simultaneously with the regular move as if they are one. What Sun did was make two moves happen by themselves at the same time."

Certainly, this was an astonishing revelation to see. Possibilities as to what this could imply brimmed before Kukui. Most importantly was the deeper potential that lied within Z -moves from this.

As that notion came to mind, Kukui was reminded of something else.

'Didn't a professor from Kalos say that something similar happened?' Pondered the professor.

He couldn't really remember what it was due to how uninteresting that professor from Kalos was to him; honestly, Kukui didn't even bother to remember the name.

"Oh well. If it's important it'll come to me." He turned his attention towards Rotom. "Where is Sun right now? I need him to work with me to figure this out."

Rotom responded with a sheepish expression with his arms raised up; a sign of reluctant denial.

 _"Sorry, but Sun made me promizze not to tell some people where he was,"_ said the machine/Pokémon.

"What? Why?"

 _"He made me promizze not to tell that either."_

Kukui face palmed after being repeatedly denied. Solving the mysteries of Z-power would unfortunately have to wait till another day. The Champion of Alola was a position that required plenty of effort, so some rest wouldn't be a bad idea every now and then.

...

Akala island was most definitely the most tropical island of all of Alola. A small beach alcove near Wela Volcano provided the perfect party place for Sun and his friends.

"Go long!" Yelled Kiawe before tossing the Frisbee.

Sun ran quickly to catch it before he was winded and stopped. He had to disappointingly watch as Mallow ran ahead of him and caught it.

"No fair," muttered the boy between breaths.

"It's not unfair that you don't eat healthy enough," argued the green haired girl playfully.

"What? I eat plenty of mushrooms and asparagus," retorted the black-haired boy.

The Champion thought that hanging out with friends was an ideal method to combat any stress he might be fighting. He invited several of the trial captains that he knew, but not all of them came.

Sophocles insisted that he continue with his work, Ilmia couldn't pass up the opportunity for more training, and Acerola said that she was too busy as a member of the Elite Four.

A small friendly argument erupted between Mallow and Sun. Lana observed this from a safe distance in the water. The manner of the argument was very interesting.

'...Mallow, are you...' Thought the quiet girl. She was quickly startled by a splash of water right next to her.

Hau had appeared right beside her with his cheery personality. Although intended as a benefit to any social situation, said personality could easily become a nuisance to certain people.

How and why Sun was able to handle this on a regular basis was beyond the blue-haired girl.

"You looked like you were spacing out. I thought I'd come over," explained the pony-tailed boy innocently.

His innocence was not graciously rewarded. Lana returned his gesture with a somewhat sour look.

"...I'm fine..."

"You sure? You-"

A rise in the water near them cut the conversation. Hau flinched and fell backwards when a giant water Pokémon emerged from it and roared. Both he and Lana were surprised and somewhat scared.

"Wawi!" Yelled Sun. "Cut that out!"

Hau swerved his head between his friend and his fear assailant. With the water rolled off, it was indeed revealed to be many Wishiwashi conglomerated together. No doubt Wawi was somewhere near the center.

The oceanic giant laughed a little before they individuals separated and Wawi returned to the shore and his trainer.

"Geez, what's gotten into him?" Asked Mallow with her hands on her hips. She didn't approve of the tiny fish's joy in scaring others.

"I think that the last battle went to his head," answered Sun as he kneeled down to his Pokémon.

"That one when you fought against that super strong guy?" Inquired Kiawe, to which Sun nodded.

Being the kid that he was, the Champion just had to tell his friends about the battle that he and Brendan had. Not every detail made it into his story, though.

He didn't tell them about the threat of stronger Pokémon in far off regions. It was probably better that he didn't mention that; people might freak out.

"You guys are starting to become obsessed with battles, aren't you?" Asked Kiawe with his casually calm demeanor.

Giving an answer to that was hindered by ambiguity. He was naturally inspired by the epic match that he had with Brendan. The hot-blooded craving for more spurred and refused to vanish. However, novel sensation emerged in Sun.

Interest in his title as a champion was started to wither. The speed of which was slow, but the sensation was still very alien to him.

"I guess. I'm also starting to get bored with being the Champion," answered the black-haired boy.

"That's a surprise. Don't you like being the Champion?" inquired the fire trial captain.

A shrug of the shoulders was the best answer that Sun could offer at the moment. He really couldn't explain what had been brewing in his mind lately.

Hearing a pop of the cooler drew everyone's attention over to it. Hau was munching on a watermelon, made awkward by the expressions that everyone was throwing at him.

"What? I don't eat just malasadas, you know?" Answered the boy in between bites.

A small laugh came from Sun. He walked over and picked out a malasada, probably to joke around with his friend.

Minutes passed by before Sun, Hau, and Mallow were sitting at the shoreline. Mallow was a little curious of what had gotten into to Team Skull; they had taken on the habit of regularly coming into her family's restaurant.

"They usually come into the restaurant and order malasadas. I have to keep telling them that we only serve them with sour cream and they just leave," said the green-haired girl with a tint of annoyance.

"That's because they always come to me to learn how to be nice," explained the pony-tailed boy.

A perk of an eyebrow showed slight surprise in Sun. It made some sense, though.

The most defining trait of Hau, behind his endless craving for malasadas, was his friendly and carefree nature. Could there be any doubt that the remnants of Team Skull would go to him for redemptive lessons?

"They must be stupid to think that malasadas will make them good guys," commented Sun.

Mallow didn't add anything to that. She had already thrown her hat into the ring about this and was getting too tired of dealing with the fried treats to give anything constructive to the conversation.

Also, both Sun and Hau were munching on malasadas at the moment.

"Yeah, but they mean well," said Hau. A thought popped into his head after saying that. "Hey. I think I know what's bothering you."

The ears on both Sun and Mallow perked up at this notion. Insight from the malasada fanatic was always interesting.

"Maybe you still haven't gotten over Lillie. Battles might not feel as good because she's not around to cheer you on."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Sun dwelled on that for a second. A tinge of pain and distrust sparked when Hau made his suggestion, but it was quickly extinguished. Lillie was indeed a motivating factor in his actions a while ago. She did manage to give him confidence, even if it was from a short distance.

If that still held him down, it was a disappointing hindrance.

'I thought I got over that,' thought the black-haired boy. 'Guess I'm gonna have to try harder.'

The deep expression on Sun's face in addition to the concerned one on Hau's alerted Mallow to the fact that she didn't fully understand what her friends were talking about.

"I know that Lillie is our friend, but do you really miss her that much?" Asked the trial captain very curiously.

"Yeah." Sun was a little too disappointed with himself to provide a more detailed answer.

"He has a crush on her, so-"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Yelled the girl with bright red cheeks.

Mallow's emotional burst caused both boys to flinch and toss their malasadas accidently. The tasty treats landed into the ocean, ripping the faces of the boys into comical despair. All they needed then was the world's smallest violin to be played by a Kingler for the scene to be complete.

The green-haired girl sweat-dropped at this scene. There was no doubt that was hilarious, but she didn't want to rub it in.

"S-sorry," apologized Mallow. "But seriously, you have a crush on her?"

Sun managed to regain his composure and answer. "Yeah. I was a real a jerk when I couldn't get over it. Brendan and I had a Pokémon battle to help."

Light was shed on why the Champion was behaving so oddly that day when he came to Mallow's restaurant. It was kind of hurtful for the green-haired girl for a second.

However, she quickly brushed most of it away.

"Are you ok?" Asked Sun, noticing her facial expression that was still painted slightly red.

"Y-yeah. I'm totally fine," reassured Mallow with little success. "Anyway, if you need any help with Lillie, I'm here for you."

"So am I. We're all friends in this," said Hau, breaking out of his sweet tooth sorrow.

Graciousness and joy bloomed in Sun's eyes and his smile with his friends around. They would help him shoulder his burden when he needed it the most.

"Thanks guys. I'll definitely do the same in return!"

His friends always supported him and worked with him through any other challenge. Humans like Hau and Gladion helped to give him the conviction to move forward, and all his Pokémon always stood by him with full trust in what he would do.

Friends were all over Alola, people he had met and whose lives he changed. A Champion would be stronger than everyone for everyone.

Looking up to the sky, he could see it; a healthy sun and a warm world.

'Hey, Lillie...it'll definitely be great when we see each other again...'

...

"Nugh. This is so boring."

Several weeks had passed since Sun's battle with Brendan. Neither the older trainer or his companion had been seen anywhere in Alola. Presumably, they left the region. Their purpose for doing so was certainly enigmatic.

More people had come for his title, including a dragon trainer passing himself off as a rock star, but the young trainer held his title amazingly with his Pokémon. That withering of interest still persisted; however, it still failed to do anything serious to him.

All the battles were making him stronger with his team and preparing them for whatever would come next.

Unfortunately, this included a tediously boring task from Professor Kukui.

"Nebby, are you sure you don't remember how we did that?" Asked the trainer to his Lunala, floating behind him.

The legendary just shrugged its shoulders. It was almost equally as bored as he was.

Kukui was very interested in discovering how the Champion pulled off that combination move. It wasn't a completely unfair deal, though. Professor Kukui and Professor Burnette offered to find places for the Ultra Beasts to live if Sun did this.

He took up the offer because he didn't want too many Pokémon to take care of. However, his end of the deal meant a lot of work.

This included tasks like fighting in seemingly dangerous situations, meditating on Mount Lanakila (which Sun despised because of cold weather), and repeatedly using Never-Ending Nightmare until he couldn't provide anymore Z-power.

Since none of those methods worked, the young trainer decided to head back to the Altar of the Moone to see if he or Nebby could remember anything.

The train of thought he possessed was that sitting there and remembering the battle would certainly bring some memory back to him.

It didn't.

'This is not working,' thought Sun irritatingly.

He collapsed backwards onto the ground, facing towards the altar itself. Being in that position revealed to him that his legendary was looking towards the monument as well.

"Do you see something?" Asked the black-haired boy. His Pokémon moved out of the way to reveal something odd.

There was a tiny light hovering in mid air.

Curious, Sun stood back up and walked over to it. Waves of energy could be heard cascading from it as he got closer.

"What is this?" Asked the boy before raising his hand to it.

Suddenly, the light expanded greatly. It was massive enough to swallow both Sun and Nebby, which it did.

"NANI?!"

The next thing Sun knew, he was on his back in some blank white space. Vision was partially obscured because of mist that painted the scene. Concern for Nebby's safety took over when he couldn't immediately see the Pokémon.

'Where is he?' A quick scan of the area revealed the Lunala close by and facing away. He was instantly relieved at this sight.

Sun got to his feet to get closer to his partner. As the distance grew less and less, he noticed something peculiar; Nebby and another Pokémon were staring curiously at each other.

This creature took the appearance of a white lion. Yellows and reds darted parts of its mane. Its paws and underbelly were coated gray and gleamed as if they were metallic. The weirdest feature was how the face had an astral appearance.

'Just like Nebby.' Thought Sun as he got closer. The Lunala and strange Pokémon took notice of him.

"What are you?"

"Nebby! Where are you?!"

"He's fine. We just found some odd Pokémon," answered Sun nonchalantly.

Reality abruptly took control because he realized that somebody both knew the name of the legendary and that they were looking for it. His Pokémon mirrored this expression and backed to him for safety.

"How do you know who Nebby is?" Asked the mysterious voice back, mirroring their own questions.

"Hold on, hold on. Where are you? Who are you?"

Answers started to come flying forward. Some of the mist started to clear, revealing a girl standing before him with equal surprise at the situation.

"W-who are you?" Asked the girl cautiously.

"I'm Sun. Who are you?"

"I'm Moon."

 _Fin_

* * *

...

What? You expect me to explain that right away? Nah, you guys are gonna have to wait a while for that one.

Thanks for reading my fanfiction, I hope you liked it. Please leave a review, I really read them, or favorite the work if you liked it.

Be on the lookout for the next fanfiction; Pokémon, Light Between Worlds!


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